


Putting the Past to Rest

by Veluren



Series: Ripples Into Waves [4]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Lot of headcanon, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Pacifist Route, Still bad at tagging
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-09
Updated: 2016-02-21
Packaged: 2018-05-12 19:16:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 30,813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5677489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Veluren/pseuds/Veluren
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Monsters are free and have long since made peace with humans. It's been over two years since that day, but there's still one last open chapter in the saga of the underground, the old king is still haunted by the other six who fell victim to his plan, and looks to make amends.</p><p>Semi-established AU that possesses an OC and lots of headcanon, definitely not a stand-alone story and requires you have read the others.</p><p>Story on Hiatus until a TBD date.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Light Blue: Who Never Moved.

**Author's Note:**

> So, time for the next big story arc huh? I gave this a bit of foreshadowing nearer to the end of the last fic.
> 
> So, for newcomers, this story/AU is heavily driven by the presence of an OC who exists in here, as well as certain other changes such as both Asriel and Gaster being alive because of events of the other stories. It's heavily, heavily recommended you read the other three fics in this series if you haven't already, this story won't really work as a standalone.
> 
> And for those who have kept up with this AU, I hope you enjoy it, I'm being really self-conscious about this story for some reason I can't quite put my finger on, I'm also taking an eternity to write this.

It had been two and a half years since monsters went free and spread out all over the world, things had settled into a shockingly quiet peace between the two races. But, there were still many unknowns to them, among them was the king's callous plan to take human SOULs and wipe them out, made in anger at the death of his children. While they were content to never speak of the plan again, it still haunted the old king, who despite having never slain one himself, was still responsible for their deaths, and it still haunted his adopted brother, who tried to aid and save the children and failed every time.

“Are you certain you're ready for this?” A gruff voice called out, though there was nobody else in the room to speak to the boss monster, “It must be done, I realize that, but are you sure you can handle this trip and all it entails?” The voice added.

“We have no choice, father.” Ralochs said as he looked at the items in front of him, “They deserve closure, the parents and children both.” He frowned deeply as he put the items into a suitcase: a ribbon and a toy knife, a bandanna and gloves, a tutu and ballet shoes, a notebook and cracked glasses, an apron and frying pan and a empty gun and cowboy hat. “Those awful things we did... if we're to ever move past them, this must happen.” He said as he shook his head.

It was still early enough to be dark when Ralochs walked up to their house to see his brother standing outside with his luggage, “Hey, you look ready.” Ral said with a small, weary smile, “You did tell Toriel, right?” He added, the larger monster just nodded.

“She's staying behind to look after the children, but I have her full support, I'm not sure how she feels about this, she says she's proud of me for taking responsibility, but I don't think she's ever quite forgiven me for it.” Asgore frowned, “To be honest, I still haven't forgiven myself.” He quickly added as he lifted his bags and started walking forward, “I don't know how the parents will react, Ral, is this really the right thing to do?”

Ralochs grimaced, reaching up to put his arm on the stump of his other shoulder in a gesture of hugging himself, “I don't know, I've spent two years debating if it is and told myself over and over, but I'm not sure. If the parents don't understand, if they get angry or hateful they may be able to kill us in a single blow, or they'll tell others and the reputation we've made and peace we built will go away, there might be another war.” His frown deepened as he looked up, “I've made up secondary stories for each of them, how they might have died in the underground without monsters being responsible for it... I hate lying, but it might be what we need to do.”

“No.” Asgore said as he walked by his brother, “If we tell them at all, I'm going to tell them the truth, even if they react how I feel they will.” That got a small swallow out of his brother, “I've lived with the pain of that decision for decades, Ral, I... I'm not going to keep letting it stagnate for the rest of my life.” He looked at the ground.

“I understand, brother.” Ral responded, hand still on his own shoulder, “We'll face it together, okay? I'm just as responsible, I could have done more.” He shook his head, “We should get going.” He said as he started walking to his car, Asgore followed and got in the back, it was about the only way he could fit in it.

As the two drove off, Toriel watched from the window with a small frown, “Asgore...” She shook her head, still calling back to some week ago when Gaster showed them another world, one where it was Asgore calling out for a grief-stricken Toriel to turn away from that mad plan, the reality of the fact their roles could have so easily been reversed made her choose to finally fully forgive Asgore after so long.

“Which one are we heading to first?” Asgore said as the car hit the highway, “You told me where they were, but you didn't tell me which they were.” He leaned forward to listen to Ral's response.

“Three of the six were relatively local, about the farthest one is seven hours by car... the first one will be the light blue SOUL.” Ralochs said with a frown as he was starting to drift back to those days, “The first one that fell will be the first one we put to rest, I figured it will be best to face our earlier remorse first, and to ease us in, since they technically weren't one we slew.” He shook his head as he went back to focusing on the road.

Asgore looked more than a little reflective as Ral spoke, “The light blue one...” He said, trying to conjure up those terrible memories, “You never told me much about what happened.”

“I... when we reach a rest stop, I'll tell you, I don't want to distract myself in the middle of driving.” His tone was doing a very poor job of hiding the fact he was trying to dodge the topic.

A few hours later they had reached a rest stop and gotten their supplies together, “Well, brother?” Asgore questioned, Ralochs closed his eyes.

“I guess I can't avoid it forever, we'll have to relive this anyway won't we? I guess in that case, it's probably for the best if we reflect on it preemptively so we don't get overcome with emotion in the middle of telling them.” He said with a sigh, “Well, okay, but...I'm not just going to mention the child, Asgore, I'm going to tell all that was attached to them...” Asgore nodded, accepting that fact. Ral took a deep breath as he went into his storyteller mode.

* * *

 

_It was two days after Asriel fell down, the entire underground may as well have been a graveyard for how lifeless it was. You came out of the palace on the rise and took the microphone in your hand to tell the people of their tragedy, and of their new hope..._

“My people.” Asgore said, his voice shaky, “You all no doubt know what happened... two days ago, my beloved child Chara passed away from an unknown illness... and in his love for his sibling, Asriel took their SOUL and left the underground to take them to their village, their last request we did not believe we could grant.” Tears were flowing all around, from Asgore's face, from Toriel's, and from most of the monsters below listening to their king's despair, “The humans of Chara's village saw a monster carrying a child's body and assumed the worst, they attacked him... he came back to use, beaten and bruised, all he could do was smile as he...” He choked on his words, “As he...”

“No.” Asgore said as he shook his head, the tone of his voice grew grim, a kind of hateful sternness that had never come from him, “I refuse to let the humans take any more from us, from this day forth humanity are our enemies, any human that falls is to be slain and their SOUL given to me, or any of the royal guard or family.” He took in a breath through his nose, “With seven human SOULs in me, I will obtain power that could bring God low, I will shatter the barrier and wipe out humanity, we will go free, and we will have peace!” He all but roared as he slammed his fist on the podium.

Silence, that's all that hung in the air for minutes. Asgore was more than capable of projecting his kingly aura when he had a serious announcement, but for the first time in his life, he was speaking in a voice of anger, of hatred, his intention to kill was firm and nobody knew how to comprehend that. Seconds passed before the monsters started cheering, “For the King! For the King!” Voices rang out all through the city as Asgore stood there, looking out.

And then...

The chant changed, “For Asriel! For Asriel!” They began to call out in the memory of the fallen prince, Toriel and Ralochs both noticed Asgore's face immediately soften as they called Asriel's name.

“Dear...” Toriel said as Asgore started walking off. She followed as Ral stayed behind to make sure to turn off the microphone in case Asgore left it on, something he had a tendency to do.

“Their faces were so bright, freedom and peace... they all wish for it so badly.” Asgore said, then shook his head, “For their memory, we have to do this.” He added as he continued walking, “Tori, can you tell the craftsmen to get ready for work? It's time for us to leave this city and its awful memories behind us and make a new home to be close to the barrier.”

_I've always been awful at reading people at the moment things happen, looking back I realize you probably began regretting it from the moment the crowd called on Asriel's name, it made you recall how much Asriel loved their sibling, how if they had survived that day, they wouldn't have wished for you to continue._

_It was a few years after that awful day, most of monster-kind had migrated out of Home to the newly built New Home or settled in the other areas along the way like Snowdin. At your request I spent those years making sure that the monsters that wanted to move out would be able to do so... and then one day, they fell..._

“Looks like things are about done here.” Ral said as he walked through the empty city streets, “It's sad, there used to be so much life down here, now there's just spiders and a few stray monsters.” He shook his head as he continued, only to be hear a voice calling him from afar. He decided to go investigate only to stop dead with a look of horror at the monster standing in front of him, a very lizard-like one unmistakably holding a SOUL in its hands, “Where... did you find that?” Ralochs asked with visible shock in his voice.

“A human fell down in the throne room.” The monster responded, “It wasn't moving, but its SOUL was still lingering.” He said as he offered it to the Scholar, whose hands trembled at the sensation of holding another creature's very existence.

“I... thank you.” Ral said, trying to put on a forced smile, “The King and Queen will reward you handsomely for this, I'll be sure to tell them.” He added, “If you'll excuse me... I would like to see them for myself.” He said as he turned to head to the throne room with a large frown on his face.

_I'll never forget how it felt to see that broken body laying on the palace floor, the image is still stained in my mind. They were so small, probably the youngest of the six by a few years... I still remember sweeping up their body to be given a proper funeral, feeling how limp they were from the broken bones all over. I was horrified, I was depressed, but, awful as it is to think, I was thankful that they hadn't been directly killed by any of our people, it was clear to see the fall did them in, they fell through a different hole than all the rest, down a much farther drop and with no flowers to break their fall. I took them through the underground, leaving the ruins behind me and went to New Home._

Toriel and Asgore were in the throne room discussing matters when the door opened and they saw the familiar silhouette, “Welcome back, Ralochs, I hope your journey was-” Toriel said as she saw the boss monster walk into the new palace, only to gasp at the sight of what he was carrying once he became more visible, “That is...”

“Ral, that's... a human.” Asgore said with clear distress and agony on his face, “Oh no, you didn't...” His voice was dripping with guilt as he assumed the worst case scenario.

“The poor thing.” Ral said as he looked down with a bitter expression, “They didn't survive their fall, the damage was too great.” He said as he tried to hold in his tears, it was agonizing for him to keep his composure holding the shell of something so young.

“That is one... we need six more...” Asgore said as he looked over the human's body and SOUL, “I...” He took a nervous swallow, “This has to be done.” He said lowly to himself as he locked the SOUL in a container that would prevent it from passing on. Those words, a re-assurance of the necessity of the grim task, they had said it so frequently and, over the next few years, would continue to use it, it was their mantra.

“So what now, Asgore?” Toriel spoke up as she watched the container retreat into the ground, “I see in your eyes, you did not want this, so what now?” She shot her husband a piercing glare that struck through him like a knife, making him physically reach up to his chest as he struggled to find an answer, “You do not know, do you? You...” She shook her head, “Do you truly intend to just sit here and wait?” She was growing increasingly angry as she spoke, and at her husband's lack of response, “So be it, Asgore, give your people their hope at the cost of who you are, I refuse to be a part of this.” And just like that, Toriel turned to leave with one last disappointed huff aimed at her husband, who was standing there with his head held low, unable to even formulate a response.

Ralochs had been eavesdropping on the conversation, he had made sure to catch Toriel at the last door to New Home, before the elevator to the CORE, “Lady Toriel, you know this has to-” Before he could even finish his sentence he found himself dodging a lobbed fireball that burned a hole into the stone wall.

“Has to what? Has to happen? That I have to see my husband destroy himself taking the lives of children, doing to their parents what the humans did to us?” Her words pierced the other monster, causing him to cringe, “We have spent so long talking, he refuses to turn himself away from this path because of his loyalty to his people, and he refuses to let go of his pain over that day.”

“But you knew that pain too, so you should-” She once again interrupted him with a fireball that struck him dead on, sending him into the wall and making him fall over smoldering.

“Do not presume you know how I feel!” She all but screamed in response as she lost her temper, an incredibly rare sight, “I know well what the humans did... but this is not what I want... this is not what Asriel and Chara would have wanted.” She said, turning away so he couldn't see her face, “If you are truly Asgore's family, you will realize that this is not how this should happen.” She said as she once more began to leave.

“And... what about you?” He said as he forced himself up, holding onto where the fireball hit him, “If you want him to turn away from this, why are you giving up?” He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth, fully expecting a much fiercer retaliation for his comment. Instead, when he opened his eyes, he saw she was more or less in the elevator.

“I've tried since that day, words cannot reach him at this time, especially now that the first SOUL has been obtained, he already feels like because one child has lost their life as a consequence of this plan, he is unable to turn away now more than before.” She took in a soft sigh as the elevator doors closed, “I am going to make sure the rest of those children have a fighting chance, what you and Asgore do next is no longer my concern.”

_The way she delivered that last sentence as she left was awful, she brushed us off with the worst tone of absolute hopelessness directed towards us, like she was well aware you wouldn't turn away, and I wouldn't try to stop you. Though, much as this will probably infuriate you to hear, I don't think she was blameless, even though she was ultimately right I still think she gave up trying far too soon. You know what came next, she disappeared into history, none of us spoke her name because we didn't want to depress you, and in time even her name was forgotten, she was simply “The Queen” to most of the rest of monster-kind._

“Ral, this is the right thing to do, isn't it?” Asgore said as Ral walked back into the throne room, hiding the injury he just sustained. Asgore was sitting in his throne, staring at the flowers on the ground with tears falling down his face, “For our people, for my child, we... we have to do this.” He said, trying to reconfirm to himself if this was the right thing to do.

Ral clenched his fists and shook his head before responding with two words, “It is.”

_Idiot! Why did I choose to support you there?! Toriel's departure had broken your spirit enough that maybe I could have actually swayed you from the plan. Instead I became a toxic voice in your ear speaking in support of it, speaking for the people and not for myself, rationalizing their own hopes versus your feelings on the matter... and my own anger and hatred towards humanity for their deeds._

* * *

 

Ralochs sighed as he finished his story, only to feel a hand on his shoulder, he looked back with a weak smile, “I'm not sure what else there is to be said about the time the first one fell, perhaps it's time we continue?” He shook his head as he started the car again.

Asgore for the most part had taken the recollection of those days with grace, though his mood had been soured by it, “I think that sounds good, let's go.” He said lowly, still reflecting on the day Toriel left, and the days before then when she desperately tried to plead to his better nature. The only thing it accomplished was making him realize how much he didn't want to do it, but couldn't afford to let the people down, how it had changed from his initial plan of crossing the barrier to get the other six, to meekly waiting in the underground and hoping that nobody else would ever fall again, the very plan that Toriel would call him out on years later to get him to stand down from fighting Frisk to the death, his or theirs.

Another hour of driving and they arrived at their first destination, a little sparsely populated town a half hour from the nearest city. The two decided to park in the outskirts and make the rest of the trek on foot, partly because people not used to monsters tended to not watch the road when they saw them in a car, and partly to take in the sights of a place that wasn't Newest Home.

“People are staring.” Asgore mused as the two walked through the town, a lot of eyes were firmly on the two walking on the sidewalk, occasionally they'd catch some stray whispers from passerby.

“I'm not surprised.” Ral added with a chuckle, “Even if you have a monster living in your town, there's no guarantee they aren't of the more monstrous type, I bet that even if they have some of our people living here, they haven't seen a more humanoid one before.” He said, giving a small wave to some girls staring at them. They immediately lowered their heads with blushes, getting a raised eyebrow from him, “Of course, you take up half the sidewalk anyway, brother, they're probably making sure you don't run over them.” He laughed a bit as Asgore blushed.

“I mean, I've always been large but that's never been an issue, though, I guess sidewalks weren't made for our species.” Asgore added as he looked down at his stomach area with a frown, “I mean, I've been slacking off on my training, but I didn't think it was that bad...” He shook his head.

“Could be worse, you could be so skinny people confuse you for a woman.” Ral responded, giving a subdued chuckle, Asgore just raised his eyebrow.

“That was nearly a millennium ago, are you still sour about him mistaking your gender one time?” Asgore said, a bit shocked, but clearly amused.

Ral just kept laughing as the two walked down the street, going back to the main point, “Seriously though, maybe you and Undyne need to start sparring again, I always did enjoy watching those.” He smiled as his gaze wandered around the street they were walking down, eventually settling on a store, “Uh, actually, can you give me a few minutes? I need to go do something.”

“Huh? Oh, of course, I'll just be waiting for- oh! What a lovely little park over there.” Asgore said as he immediately picked out the most nature-filled area nearby, eliciting a chuckle from the shorter monster as he ducked into a clothing store.

When Ral exited the clothing store, he saw Asgore was parked on a bench and surrounded by people, “Ooooof course.” He said with a small sigh as he walked into the park to fetch his brother, “Scuse me, coming through.” He said as he tried to push through the crowd, only for them to immediately split apart fast enough that he fell on his face with a yelp.

“Oh! Welcome back Ral, I was just sharing some tea and stories with the locals, they're all so nice.” Asgore said with a bright smile as he raised his teacup, then tilted his head “You're actually not wearing a robe?”

At the best of time, Ral's wardrobe was... limited, to the point where he had an entire closet full of the same outfit, a brown robe with gold hems and a hood he'd usually stab holes in so his horns could poke out. When he lost his arm he had had it re-customized so that the delta rune would be over where his stump was as a reminder that he lost it for the sake of monster-kind. Though, now he was wearing standard jeans, a plain shirt, and a beret nestled awkwardly between his horns, which Asgore took note of, “But why a beret?”

“I like them.” He said flatly, only to notice a wry smirk on Asgore's face, “Hey, I don't make fun of you wearing pink floral- well, never mind, I do, so that's fair.” He said with a chuckle, “Apparently a few people see a robed goat monster and immediately conflate it with religious demons? I figure it would make it easier if any of the parents wind up being religious, so I'm stuck wearing casual wear until we're back home.” He shrugged, “I miss my robes already.”

“I think you look good in it.” Asgore responded as he stood, “Well everyone, it's been lovely talking with you all, but me and my brother need to be moving on.” Asgore said as he handed the teacup back to the woman who it presumably belonged to. As they got up to move they could hear well wishes and desires to see them come back soon, “My, what a lovely little town.” Asgore said with a bright smile as the two kept talking, only to catch an errant sigh from Ral, “What's wrong?”

“Oh, just wondering how long it will last.” Ral said with a weak smile, “Monsters are safe and protected, but how liked they are is still kind of a crapshoot, these people love us but I'm wondering if some of the other places we visit aren't going to be a bit more hostile. Just keep an eye out.” He added before shaking his head.

The two walked out of the main part of the town to the more residential areas, eventually Ralochs produced a piece of paper and looked down at it with a frown, “Well, this is it.” He said as he looked towards the quaint little house in front of them, he took in a slight swallow as he looked at the driveway to see two cars, “Once we knock...”

“We'll be fine.” Asgore said with a small frown, “We just need to be honest with them.” He added. Ral knocked on the door and took in a breath as the door opened.

“Hello-” A older, red-haired man opened the door and blinked twice at the sight of the two monsters, he seemed a bit shocked, “Uhm, hi?” He responded a bit more confused and maybe nervous, judging by the tone of his voice.

Ral took a small swallow, “Uh, yes, hello.” He said, frowning, “I'm sorry if we're interrupting you, I'm Ralochs Dreemurr, and this is my brother Asgore Dreemurr. I... well, first, have you lived here for a few decades?” He questioned, the man just nodded, “I see, so I did have the right house, as much as I wish I had made a mistake.” He frowned, “Two decades ago, give or take, a child fell into our prison, the underground.” He started, before he could even continue, the man's face widened in shock.

“Please, come in, this... doesn't seem like a conversation that should be had at a doorstep.” He leaned back, “Hun! You need to come here!” He called back as he stepped back to let the monsters in. Ral had to duck to make sure his horn didn't scuff the doorframe, Asgore had to all but crawl through sideways, human doors were not made for someone of his size and it was apparent.

“Who's here, dear-” A fairly standard black haired woman said as she walked into the room, cutting herself off halfway at the sight of the two.

The man looked towards the two monsters, his gaze both weary and relieved, “You... do you know what happened to our child?” His wife gasped at the question and sat down next to her husband, Ral just nodded twice.

“Over the past years, several children had fallen into the underground from a cave-in that opened on Mt. Ebott. Yours was the second to fall in.” Ral responded, looking like he wanted to hide in a ditch as he continued.

“We've wondered for... so long what happened to her?” The man responded, Ral cringed a bit at a confirmation the child was a girl. Loathe as he was to admit it, he had always kept the children gender-neutral in his mind unless it was explicitly clear, it was one of the ways he dehumanized them to keep himself strong enough to carry out the plan.

“I...” Ral sputtered, trying to find his words as Asgore looked to him, “The hole your child found was down a long drop, and there was nothing to cushion their fall.” The parent's faces lit up in horror and emotion as they started piecing it together, “They most likely died from the fall, I didn't actually see it happen but... I was the one to find her.” He said, slipping up and gendering the child, his failsafe fell through and his emotions started coming to bear.

The parents were clearly upset and distraught as the mother started speaking, “All those years ago we... we weren't the best people.” She sniffled, “We fought a lot, and said a lot of awful things to each other, one day she just vanished without a trace, we looked everywhere for her, or signs of where she had gone, all we could find was that she had bought a ticket to Mt. Ebott.”

Asgore frowned at that as he realized it was probably deliberate, nobody would go to Ebott especially knowing its reputation unless they wanted to disappear, the poor child probably had thoughts running through their mind that nobody that young deserved to feel, “Poor thing.” He closed his eyes, trying to stay strong.

“I took her body back to our capital for a proper burial.” Ral said, “Unable to leave the underground to return her body, it was all that we could do.” He reached into his pocket, producing an old, worn toy knife, and a faded ribbon, eliciting a shocked gasp, “This was found in the area they fell by someone else, the immediate assumption is that they belonged to her.”

“They did.” The father said, taking the items while his wife cried into his shoulder, “I'm... not sure how to feel. I feel like I should be thankful, but it's just numb, all this time has gone by and I thought I moved on but... there was always a part of me that always wondered “what if she was still alive, what if she was just lost”, I... it's not what I wanted to hear but... thank you for bringing us closure.”

Ral closed his eyes, looking to Asgore for help on what to say next, “I'm sorry it couldn't have been happier circumstances.” He added, failing to find any more prudent words.

“After losing her, we tried again.” The wife added, “He's twenty now and living at college, losing her... it made us realize how awful we had been as parents, we swore that if we had another we'd be strong for their sake, we wouldn't let it happen again.”

“To be honest.” Asgore said, “Your daughter... she was part of the reason we're here right now.” Ral looked to Asgore in a bit of shock, was he really going to tell them? “The barrier that trapped us was made by humans, and could only be broken by humans, though she was no longer alive, your daughter's spirit ultimately helped us go free.” He had cherry-picked out the worst truths of the story, it would seem that despite his resolve, he wasn't able to say the harshest facts of that plan, that he had kept the child's SOUL trapped and unable to move on for those years, how it was most likely against her will.

“I... I see.” The man responded with a slight frown, “I'm glad then that at least...” He choked on his words, trying to find a way to respond.

The four of them spent hours talking about the child, about the type of person she was, the type of things she liked. How she was a huge tomboy who loved play fighting with that toy knife, cardboard shield at her side as she pretended to slay dragons. How she was so patient and quiet that she could stand still for hours to win a game of hide and seek.

It hurt for the two monsters to hear all this stuff about the child they never knew, and it also hurt because they both knew this was probably how it was going to be for all of them, especially the ones that had died because of the plan.

Eventually, it got to be late at night, the two monsters said their farewells to the parents and departed. They walked down the street looking at the stars in the sky, “That was awful but it was probably the best case.” Ral said, breaking the silence, “They were understanding, and happy to receive closure.”

“But we didn't kill their child.” Asgore said with a frown, “From here on out, all the rest of them we directly had a hand in... it's going to get harder and harder, Ral.”

“I know, Asgore.” The shorter monster responded, “But we have to stay determined, no matter how awful it gets, they all need the same closure as those two.” He said as the two walked into a small motel to spend the night, they'd head out again tomorrow.

As they settled into their motel room, Asgore walked outside and brought out his phone and called home, “Hello, Tori?” He said with a small smile.

“Asgore... how did it go?” She said, there was a clear sensation of worry in her voice, one that lifted up his spirits a bit to see she was more worried for his sake than angry.

“It... the first one went well, the parents weren't happy to know their child's fate but... they were glad to finally have that closure.” His expression turned to a frown, “The first child was the one that we weren't responsible for.” He added.

“Ah, the one that fell?” Toriel questioned, “Perhaps it is better that you went for that one first, dear. You have always been haunted by what happened, even when you were still doing it. I know this is hard on you, and probably on him, just know that even though I am not there with you, I am still with you in spirit, and you can always call.” Asgore just smiled.

“Thank you, honey.” Asgore said with clear relief in his voice, “I will call you tomorrow, Ral said that the first three were local, so I'll have probably met the second one's parents tomorrow.” He shook his head, “I will talk to you then.” He said as he hung up, then stared up at the starry sky.

Inside the room, Ral was busy adjusting his beret and frowning when he couldn't seem to get it to sit just right, a gentle white glow came from his chest as a voice spoke, “One down, five to go.” The gruff voice called out, Ral just nodded.

“Tomorrow will be the orange soul.” He frowned, “The one that wouldn't stop running, and the one responsible for making me realize how awful I was being back then.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully this is a strong start, this story's going to be very heavy on headcanon just in general.
> 
> The bits in the past are probably what I'm most satisfied and confident with, it's treading new ground in the present that I get really nervous about posting, since there are so many unkowns about the world outside of the underground.


	2. Orange: Who Wouldn't Slow Down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Child no. 2 up ahead.

It was just another day in the ruins, Toriel was walking through the old security systems to the grave of her adopted child deep in that spot where they first fell. She walked into the room and saw a figure laying on the ground and gasped at the sight. Another human had fallen down.

She ran to their side and looked them over, an unmistakably male child with red hair, he was much older than Chara and looked like he was physically active. He seemed wounded from his fall but he was thankfully alive, just unconscious, probably from the shock and pain of the impact. “Poor child.” She said sadly as she looked up at the sunlight coming in from the hole to the surface, then picked the child up and started walking back home.

On her way back, she felt some motion from her arms and looked down, the child was stirring. Memories of Chara were running through her head as she remembered how untrustworthy of monsters they were at first, she assumed this child wouldn't respond well to waking up being held by something that looked so inhuman, so she sat them down against the wall and waited for them to stir fully.

The reaction wasn't what she was expecting, upon waking up the child took note of her form and jumped up, putting his arms up to be ready for a fight only to collapse from the pain of his injuries. “Oh dear.” Toriel said softly as she walked up, the child had a kind of burning in his eyes that told her he was headstrong and ready for any challenge, “Do not be afraid my child, I mean you no harm.” She said in her softest, most motherly voice as she knelt down and put her hands over the child. He didn't seem happy until the magic came out of Toriel's hands and started healing his wounds, seeing that she was being sincere, he finally relaxed some.

“I am Toriel, I live here, what is your name?” No response, the child didn't seem very vocal, but she didn't mind. She just gave them a patient smile as she finished healing them, “Please, follow me child, I will lead you to safety.” She said as she helped them up, and started leading them by the hand to her house.

Back then, she still didn't quite know what to expect, the child stayed with her for a few days before pining for home, and freedom. She tried to dissuade him, but that determined glimmer in his eyes said he wouldn't back down. Apprehensively, she took the child to the exit and warned him of the obstacles, of how many of the monsters just needed a bit of sternness to leave him alone, and how he could probably make it back with some effort and determination.

News would reach her a week later that the child had failed and died, and not very far from home either. She was ashamed and heartbroken that she didn't do more, and resolved to do a better job to protect the next child that fell.

* * *

 

The next morning had come, Ralochs got out of bed to notice that Asgore was nowhere in sight. “Brother?” He said as he looked outside, only to notice a large crowd at the nearby park, “Of course.” He said with a sigh, Asgore was probably socializing again. He got what they had brought in with them and checked out before going to the park.

“Wow! I can't believe we got to meet their king!” A human girl's voice called out from the crowd, “I can't believe he's such a dork!” A man's voice called out. Ral just shook his head twice.

“Hey Asgore! Time to go!” He called out over the crowd. Asgore lifted his head and nodded.

“It's truly been lovely to talk to you all, but it's time for us to be going, take care everyone.” Asgore said with a huge smile as he stood and rejoined his brother, the two of them walked out of the city to the cheers and well-wishes of the town's citizens, back to where he parked his car on the outskirts.

“Ohoho!” Asgore laughed, “Look at how much tea they got me as a gift!” He said as he showed Ral a massive tea set, more than enough to last the entire trip.

“Man, those people did really like us.” Ral said with a laugh, “Wonder why that is?”

As the car hit the highway again there was a lingering silence. After several minutes passed, Asgore spoke, “You seem lost in thought, what's wrong, are you thinking about the next one?” Ral shook his head.

“Yes and no.” He responded, “I've been thinking about what Gaster told me last Fall when we rescued him and what it means for this.”

Asgore frowned at that, “About you?”

Ral nodded, “Speaking in the strictest terms, those kids originally didn't interact with me, their deaths weren't my responsibility. When I came into existence because of Gaster making me an anomaly, I stole actions from others to make it so that my existence makes sense in the laws of causality, including interacting with all of those children so I became a major player in the fate of monsters. The guilt is mine, but... at the same time, it originally belonged to others.” He shook his head, “It makes my head hurt, but I still mean what I said, I'm not letting that hold me back... even at the most sour moments of the life I've made in this timeline.”

“So, which one is the second child?” Asgore said, going back to the reason for their journey. Ral gave a soft frown as he looked back for a second, then closed his eyes with a sigh.

“Orange.” He responded, opening them to focus on the road, “The kid who ran himself into his own death.” He took a sharp inhale through his nostrils as he began to narrate.

* * *

 

_It had been a few years since the last child fell, I'll be honest I can't even remember how many individual years had passed between each child falling, a lot of them have just blended together into one dark time in my head. Either way, I was in Snowdin on some... er... business. What? What's that look for?_

_Okay, fine, I was going to visit Cinna._

Ralochs walked down the snowy pathways of the upper mountains of the Snowdin area, his steps leading him down to the forest where one of the self-exiled boss monsters lived, the self proclaimed “Ice Witch”, Cinna. As his steps carried him, he caught sight of a Snowdrake in a bowtie laying on the side of the road, “Oh my goodness!” He said when he noticed it was injured, and ran to his side.

“Ach! The disrespect!” The drake said as Ral helped him up, “You can't even tell a decent joke these days without critics getting nasty atcha.”

“A monster attacked you because of a joke?” Ral questioned.

“Wasn't a monstah.” The snowdrake responded, “Kid's a human...ach.” He said as he cringed, “Didn't think they'd hit quite so hard but eh, least he backed off when I asked for mercy.” Ral took a subtle swallow at that, another human had fallen. He helped the Snowdrake get back home and then hit the main path running, the next human had fallen.

_The kid didn't use lethal force but he was a fighter in at least some capacity. I saw a few more wounded monsters along the way who all told the same story, the kid was unwilling to kill, but would happily beat them senseless until they backed off instead of end the situation with as little violence as possible._

Ral ran through the woods until he saw the red-headed kid sending some more monsters running bruised and beaten, “Hey!” Ral called, the human looked at him and opened his eyes in shock, as if he was seeing some deja vu. “Kid.” Ral said as he walked forward, “You're... huh.” He said, reaching back to scratch the back of his neck. He was supposed to kill this kid for Asgore, take his SOUL, but seeing one, confronting them, what was he actually supposed to do?

The kid made the decision for him when he raised his fists, “Don't do this, child.” Ral said as he readied to defend himself if need be, though who was defending themselves, at this point, was unclear. The kid made by first move by lunging forward with his fists, striking the boss monster in the knee, “Yow!” Ral called out as he grabbed his knee and started hopping in pain, “Not okay!” He sounded more incredulous than outright angry. “Listen to me, human, I don't ...” He frowned, he was going to say he didn't mean harm but... it was his intention to take this kid's life, right? He shook his head again, trying to push those thoughts out.

_It was a complete crisis for me, the fact he chose to fight back. I was either going to have to lie to myself and say it was alright to kill that kid, or potentially put my life on the line to capture them alive thinking that maybe Gaster could have somehow found a way to get enough SOUL essence to power you up without killing them._

The monster closed his eyes as he waved his arm forward, causing a wall of orange fire to alight and move towards the child. Without missing a beat, the kid ran through it, uncaring of getting scorched only to be fine because of the type of magic that was thrown at him.

The counter was fast and harsh, a direct blow to Ral's form that struck him critically. “G-gah!” He yelled as he buckled to a knee, “Y-you've got good control... listen to me, child.” He said as he staggered to get up, “I don't want to hurt you, but...” He shook his head, “No, I'm not going to fight you any farther.” He said, putting an end to the fight just as it was getting off the ground, “Maybe... come with me of your own will? I think I might be able to talk Asgore into letting you leave alive one day, albeit in the far off future.”

The child looked at him for a second and took a step forward as if debating it, but after more consideration, he turned and ran. Ral blinked and gave chase, “Hey! Wait a second kid!” He screamed as he ran after the child, “You need to slow down! This area's full of magic that kills you if you're moving!” The child wasn't slowing down, “Come on! White attacks aren't all you need to deal with! If you don't stop running you're going to DIE!”

_But he wouldn't listen, wouldn't stop running. I lost him in the treeline, and when I found him again... I found a body damaged by icicles, it was too late._

Ral closed his eyes as he came upon the sight, it had been nearly ten human lifetimes since he had seen something bleed when it died, it disgusted and horrified him to see, “Who...?” He said lowly as he walked towards the kid, whose SOUL was hovering just over his body.

“Hey! Back off bookworm, the credit for this one is mine.” A harsh but clearly feminine voice called out as two more icicles flew at Ral. He perked his head up and stood dead still as light blue icicles passed right through his form to no ill effect. He looked over to see who had thrown the icicles, a female boss monster in thick winter clothing was standing nearby.

“Cinna.” Ral said, frowning, “You killed this child?” He said as she walked closer and pulled the hood off to show her face.

_Remember that mask I wore when I was human? The one father said I would wear to tell people I was hiding wounds to pass myself off? Cinna is a monster who actually has scars like that... and you know how hard it is for a monster to be scarred when attacks delivered in malice can kill us quickly, wounds like that... they were intentional, deliberate._

“Of course I did.” She said as she walked forward, “If the King finally wishes to let us go free, who am I to not? You don't look happy though, even though you're basically his arms outside of the palace.” She said, noticing the crestfallen look on Ral's face.

“I... no.” Ral said, shaking his head, “I'm fine, Asgore will reward you well for this.” He said, hiding his bitterness.

“Hey, bookworm.” She said lowly, causing Ral to lift his head, “The king doesn't actually want this, does he?” She said, causing the rest of the scholar's body to stiffen, “Figured as much.” She added in a slight tone of disgust, “And tell me something, are you supporting him?” Ral nodded twice at that. The female monster put on a soft smile, “Thought so.” She said it so calmly, but immediately followed by summoning ice shards that flew towards the other monster.

Ral yelled as his robes were caught and sent him flying, pinning him to a nearby tree, “I-is this necessary?” He said as she walked up to him and looked him in the eyes.

“You should be making him stop, human.” She said the last word as an insult, causing his eyes to widen, “I figured maybe the death of his kids was a big enough moment of shock that he would have sincerely been doing it, but he's too nice, he can't be like that.” She said, idly raising her hand to trace the scars and burn wounds over her face.

“You know what I am?” He questioned, she just nodded at him.

“I knew what you were since we met in Home centuries ago, you had no reason to not get human SOULs to free us if you already had one, unless your true SOUL was human itself, but you've proven over the past few centuries that you're one of the good ones.” She said, “So tell me something, you're supporting him in this even though he doesn't want to?”

“He does though.” Ral responded, “He wants to avenge Asriel. He intends to free us.” He said it proudly, only for a much large icicle to appear and impale the tree clean through in the space right between his horns, causing him to yelp in fear.

“And he'll wipe out humanity.” She added, causing the other monster to frown deeply. “Idiot!” She yelled, causing him to cringe again, “You've been a monster for centuries, so you should know our nature by now. Tell me something, what are our SOULs made of?” Ral paused for a second, then opened his eyes wide with a gasp.

_The answer is, of course, Love, Compassion, Mercy. To hold a grudge a monster needs a great personal affront, one so horrific it makes them cast aside their better nature. Cinna is like that because she was actively tortured by humans during the war, that's where her scars and a deep seated hatred of humans came from, and even then she was willing to look past that to talk me down because she realized you and I didn't have that kind of nature. You never really fully hated humans because by your very nature, you can't hold resentment like that. Even though you didn't forgive the humans that killed Asriel, your proclamation was because you were moving through the five stages, not a genuine, lasting hatred, it wasn't enough to make you truly malicious._

_But me, my SOUL is human, I was genuinely hateful towards the idea of humanity after Asriel's death. Cinna's words... they made me realize I was being a toxic adviser to you. The words I said that kept you on that plan, confirming it was the right thing, keeping you strong and willing to continue with it._

_To be honest, it wasn't because I wanted to avenge Asriel, or because I wanted monsters to find peace, it was because I was so genuinely ashamed to have come from a race capable of emotions and acts like that. In acting that way, I had become pretty much exactly what I hated about humanity following Asriel's passing; a grudge driven beast seeking revenge for my family being wronged, unable to find room for forgiveness or mercy._

“If the king and his retinue can't even bring themselves to strike down one kid, how do you think actually waging war will go?” Cinna said with a scowl, “That look that was on your face, you can barely stand the sight of one body, is that because they were a child?” She snorted, “If this plan comes to fruition, it won't just be five more bodies you have to see like this, there will be billions. And if Asgore keeps his promise to the letter, not even children, hell, not even infants will be safe.”

Ral stared dead, almost hollow as her words rang true in his ears, “Cinna... what have I done? I could have stopped him.” He said, coming to realize, “I encouraged him, he's not going to stop and I can't stop him now, I blew my only chance.” He said.

“Keep looking, bookworm.” She said as she walked up to him and looked him in the eyes, “It's never too late for mercy to win out.” At that she reached forward and pecked him on the cheek, causing him to blush deeply as she turned to leave, “But hey.” She called back, “I still want that reward.” She added almost callously.

“Right...” Ral said, “Wait! Cinna!” He called out, causing her to turn to face him, “I can't get down.” He added, looking at how tightly against the tree she had pinned him. She just smiled and summoned a whirling buzz-saw of ice, then threw it at the stump of the tree and vanished into the woods. Ral took a small swallow as the tree started falling forward, “No... nononononono!” He let out a loud scream as the tree fell in the exact direction he was pinned, crushing him under it.

_I'm so glad we're such a tough species. Anyway, I took the child's body and SOUL back to New Home._

Ral walked back into the throne room and called Asgore, “Asgore, you need to come to the throne room, now.” He said over the phone with a dire tone of voice. He hung up and sat down in the flowers next to the human's body, “I tried to warn you...” He said lowly, then shook his head, “No, no, I'm not about to blame you for your own death. Even if I had to hamstring you, I should have made you stop.” He took in a remorseful breath, “And now... because I failed, you're... I'm sorry.” He apologized to the hovering SOUL, knowing that it could hear him.

A slight rustle of a cape dragging along the ground could be heard as Asgore entered, “What's wrong, Ral? You sounded really-” He stopped dead as he saw the human's body and SOUL, “Oh...” He looked to his brother, who had a sad, forced smile on his face.

“Two, right?” He shook his head, “I know what I've said, Asgore, but... maybe we should stop? Is it really right to keep these kids trapped like this, is it really worth what we'll have to do if we succeed?”

“You know the answer to that.” Asgore responded in a bitter, almost hateful tone. Though, given everything, how worn down he was? It was likely that was directed at himself more than anyone else, “For our people, we have to.”

_That discussion and the revelations of that day marked a turning point for me, when I went from actively encouraging the plan to rebuffing it at every attempt, trying to maybe change your mind about it. But... well, you know how that went. After that, I also resolved to protect the rest of the fallen children... though, you also know how that turned out._

* * *

 

“so, what i got from that is that you have a freakin' weird taste in women.”

“Yeah, she's always been kind of-” Ral blinked twice as he realized that wasn't Asgore speaking, and the car smelled like science and ketchup. He turned to look in the passenger side seat only to see two hollow pits staring back at him.

“H E Y T H E R E” Ral let out a massive scream and put the car into a swerve so deep it began spinning circles on the road. Just before they went off the side, the car's tires flashed blue and the car stopped on a dime with a harsh slam.

“Oh, hello Sans.” Asgore said, completely unfazed by what just happened, “What are you doing here?”

Before Sans had time to respond, Ral put the car in park, turned it off, opened the door and fell out into the ditch off the side of the road. At the bottom he just kind of curled into a little ball and started whimpering, “dang, i think that's the best fright i've ever given him.” Sans said before looking up at Asgore, “eh, not a lot, i was feeling pretty bored so i figured i'd see what you two were up to.”

“Oh! Well, welcome aboard.” Asgore said cheerily, then looked down at the ditch, “Are you okay, Ral?” He called down, only to get a weak thumbs up before it sank back down into the ball he had curled into.

Eventually, Ral climbed out of the pit, still trembling, “Freakin' hell, Sans, was that necessary?!” He sounded livid as the skeleton just shrugged, “Wait, how'd you end up here anyway, did you somehow manage to find a shortcut in my car?”

Sans shrugged again, “nah, i slipped in at the last rest stop, you two were so focused on the story you just never noticed me.” He winked, “anyway, hope you don't mind a third wheel, things back home've been pretty boring, 'sides, i wanna see how many shortcuts i can find out here.”

“I think that's a wonderful idea.” Asgore said as he looked to Ral, who just shook his head.

“You can travel with us, sure... but, you know what we're out here for, right?” He frowned a bit at that as he looked over towards Sans, both his eyes were closed.

“yeah, tori told me.” He said, “pretty big thing of you two to do, don't worry, i won't mess with that any, i'll make myself scarce when you're meeting their folks.” He opened them again, looking back with a smile, “but hey, enough of the sad talk, yeah? let's hit the road since ral's already hit the ditch.”

The two monsters shook their heads in response before they continued driving, another two hours and they arrived at where the next child's parents lived. Unlike the last town, this was a full on city, filled with tall buildings and choking traffic.

“Hm, the last town couldn't get enough of us, but it's like we're just any other human to them.” Ral said as he watched people walk by them on the sidewalk, acting like seven foot tall goat creatures and chubby skeletons were nothing unusual.

“that's the city for you, they're so apathetic they make me look neurotic.” Sans said with a shrug as he walked alongside the two, his eyes would occasionally dart down an alley or stare with purpose at a solid wall, probably taking note of shortcuts that only he knew to look to see.

“It certainly feels different, I'm no stranger to larger cities though.” Asgore said as they walked, “Do you know where we're going?” He said looking to Ral, only to notice he was staring a telephone pole, “Ral?”

“They're still looking for him.” Ral said lowly as he stared at the missing persons poster stapled to the pole. It wasn't buffered by weather or time, it was fresh, recent, “They're still holding out hope that someone will...” He gritted his teeth, trying to not cry, “Dammit.” He said lowly as he produced his phone and called the number.

Asgore scowled as he watched Ral dial the number and speak into it, “Hello? Yes, I... saw the missing persons poster, I... may actually have some information for you.” The loud scream of 'what?!' could be heard clearly over the phone and was loud enough that Ral had to pull it away from his head, “Yes, would there be a good place to meet up nearby?” He listened to the response, nodding his head, “I understand, we will meet you there, bye.” He said as he hung up, then looked over towards his companions.

“What did they say?” Asgore questioned as he looked over to him.

“There's a somewhat large park nearby, we're going to meet with her there.” Ral responded, only to catch the questioning eyebrow from his brother, “Yeah, her, not them.” He shook his head as he started walking. As they did, Ral broke the silence hanging between them, “Have you thought about what you're going to tell her? The last child we could wash our hands of and be honest about it, this one is dead because of us, and you said you don't want to lie about it.”

Asgore took a soft swallow, “I... have debated it some more, I was resolved to be entirely truthful, but, it really isn't just for us, is it? I have to weigh the effects this will have on all of monster-kind as well, won't I?”

“well, if you two are heading out, i'm gonna go do some other stuff.” Sans said with a wave as he started to depart.

“Actually, Sans, can you do us a favor?” Ral asked. Sans turned to look towards him to let them know he was listening, “Can you find us a hotel to stay the night in?”

Sans gave a nod, “sure thing, see you guys later.” He said as he walked off. The two monsters looked at each other for a second before walking to the park.

Once there, they sat down on a bench and waited, thoughts idling back to those days as they sat in silence, watching the people. Families were playing with their children, people walking their pets, they even saw Madjick doing street performances and getting applauded. Asgore shook his head, “I'm glad we failed.” He said, breaking the silence, “Harsh as it can be sometimes, dark as people's emotions can be, it just wouldn't feel right if we were to sit here like this knowing that only monsters lived up here.”

“Agreed, I have enough guilt from the six, we were talking about millions, billions, even.” Ral responded as he saw a black-haired woman who looked to be well into middle age. She spotted the two boss monsters and ran up.

“Are... you the ones that called me?” She questioned, both of them just nodded in response, “Oh my God! I... I mean... you're monsters, right? You came from Mt. Ebott?” They, again, just nodded, “I see, so... he did...” She began sniffling.

“My name is Asgore, this is my brother, Ralochs.” Asgore said, motioning to the smaller monster beside him. Ral responded with a half-hearted wave of his hand, “Ral was the one who called you, about your...” He frowned.

“You said you had information, please, tell me he's okay? Is he with you?!” She seemed borderline hysterical as she spoke, as if trying to convince herself more than anything that this would go how she wished it.

“I'm sorry.” Ral said as he stood, producing the bandanna and gloves the child wore on his venue to the underground, “Two decades ago, children began falling into the underground.” The woman gasped as she slowly reached out to take the items as he continued speaking, “Of them, only one who fell survived, I...” He looked to Asgore, who frowned and nodded, “I tried to save them, but they fell victim to the hazards of the caves.” He spoke like he hated himself, not just for his failure, but what he was doing here and now, that he was having to twist the truth for the sake of the monsters as a whole.

“No...” She said, her voice going small as she fell to her knees, “He can't be...” She put the bandanna to her eyes and started bawling uncontrollably. Asgore reached out to put a hand on her shoulder, giving her a sympathetic, teary smile.

As the minutes passed, she began to calm down some, “My ex-husband... he hated my child because he was from my first marriage, not his.” She said, “I should have been more observant of that, he didn't like what kind of person my child was growing into.” She sniffled some more as the two listened to her story intently, “One day I came home from work and he and my husband were gone, I called but he wouldn't pick up.”

Ral and Asgore both tensed noticeably at that, they had a feeling they knew where this story was going to end.

“When he showed up again, my child was nowhere in sight, I grilled him but he never answered. His trail led to Ebott... where children going missing is assured.” She began crying again, “I knew that place's cursed reputation, I knew that he was probably gone, but... but... I just wanted to hope, I just wanted to believe he was still alive, waiting for mommy!” She collapsed into a puddle on the pavement, Ral immediately slid off the bench to give her something warm and fuzzy to cling to for comfort, being a walking fuzzball had its perks.

“I'm so sorry...” Asgore said, “Your child's death... it could have been avoided, but... we didn't have the greatest love of humans, if things had been different, he may still...” He frowned, “But... your son did grant us one final blessing after his death, his spirit, along with the rest of the fallen, is what would ultimately grant us freedom from our prison, so that we could be here today.”

She didn't calm down any, just kept holding onto Ral, who looked more than a little uncomfortable being held so tightly, “I... where is he?” She questioned, looking up.

“At the foot of the mountain.” Ral said, “When we went free, we made sure to take your son, as well as the rest of the children who fell victim to the underground, and we made sure they received a true and proper burial in the outside world.” He reached down to pat her on the back, trying to comfort her, “If you wish to one day go to our city, Newest Home, I will personally show you where he is, so you can talk to him.”

The woman just sobbed softly, “...Thank you... I... I would like that.”

“What happened to that man?” Asgore cut in, brow furred and a furious tone in his voice. How dare the child's stepfather sentence them to death like that? And for what reason, because he wasn't his? Because he didn't like their attitude? It was clear it was burning him up inside.

“He's where he belongs.” She responded coldly, “Everyone knows what Ebott was, how people were consumed by the cursed mountain. When it became clear he was abandoned there intentionally, my ex-husband was charged with premeditated murder.”

“Justice for a horrific crime, I'm glad that at least he received comeuppance.” Ral responded as he looked to his brother, who nodded in response.

After the mood settled, they began to talk some more, “I tried to help your child, honestly.” Ral said, “But he sucker punched me and ran off, I hadn't seen a child that willing to fight before.”

She laughed softly and sadly at that, “He was a scrapper, always picking fights but only if he felt he had good reason. Usually, he would swoop in while a kid was being tormented and beat up the bullies doing it, he hated people being mean just because they were bigger or stronger.” Ral frowned at that. That's probably why the child was so willing to fight back, the monsters would definitely be the ones to start it, they would have just been bullies in his eyes.

“He was a perfect student at the karate school he went to, he was going to get his green belt before... before...” She began to sob softly again.

After they calmed her down, they made sure to spend their time talking about him, to know what kind of person he was turning out to be, a headstrong bully hunter who protected the innocent, a regular hero.

After they said their goodbyes, they began to walk towards the nearest hotel. Hopefully Sans had chosen to pick out the obvious target, since money wasn't an issue.

“I don't feel well, brother.” Ral said as he walked, he was hugging himself again and looked miserable, “Having to twist the truth is almost making me physically ill.”

“I know, Ral.” Asgore responded, a similar look on his face, “When we started I was resolved to speak the whole truth, but... what you said about another war happening, the more I thought on it, the more I realized that even if it destroys us inside, we need to think of the people first.”

Ral just laughed bitterly, “It is for royalty to sacrifice themselves for their subjects.” He shook his head, “Nothing's really changed, has it? Still lying to ourselves about the kind of people we are because we're thinking of the others first. Still... this is different from killing children, a white lie for the greater good, I think that's alright, right?” He said, looking over to Asgore for confirmation.

“yeah, a bone-white lie won't exactly have people ribbing on you.” A voice called out from behind as Sans snuck up on the two, “sorry for eavesdropping, that's a pretty raw deal. but... yeah, i don't want the rest of the humans to maul us because you decided to be honest to twelve or so people. i'm probably a bad person though.” He said with a shrug. “hey, i got us a room, check it.” He rounded the corner to an incredibly fancy hotel.

“Sans, how did you pay for this?” Asgore questioned.

“i said i got royalty willing to spot the bill.” Sans responded with a wink as he walked into it.

“Well, he's not wrong.” Ral said looking to Asgore, who just shrugged.

As Asgore headed in to deal with their reservations, Ral and Sans hung back, “hey, ral.” Sans said, breaking the silence, “when are you going to go deal with the kid with the gun?”

Ral blinked twice, “Why?” He questioned, only to catch a kind of half-glare from Sans, one that told him to not pry. He shuddered a bit, “Probably the last one, I'm dealing with them in the order they fell in.”

Sans nodded, “gotcha... i guess i'll be around when you get there, huh?” He said as he stood to go inside.

A royal suite would be putting the room they ended up with lightly, Asgore's house back in Newest Home wasn't even this big, it was completely catered too. After the three of them ate dinner and Sans tormented the brothers with puns, Asgore stepped outside onto the balcony to call home.

“Dear? How was it?” Toriel's voice said over the receiver.

Asgore just frowned in response, “Not easy, the child was deliberately abandoned by his stepfather to get rid of him, the mother had spent all this time hoping they were still alive.”

“How awful.” Toriel responded, “We have both been alive long enough to see the best and worst of humanity, but to hear that things like that still happen, even centuries later...”

“Yes, I know.” Asgore said, still frowning, “But he received exactly what was deserved, so it worked out, even though the mother was devastated.”

“I can imagine.” She said.

“How are the children?” Asgore said, changing the topic.

“They're just finishing up dinner, they said they already miss you.” Asgore smiled a bit at that, “Asriel told me to tell you to try to bring back a souvenir when you cross the ocean, I hope you can manage that.”

“Of course I will, honey.” He said, chuckling softly, “Well, I should be going to bed, there's still some more traveling to be done tomorrow.” He listened to her goodbye and hung up, then headed back inside.

“asgore, just in time, ral's losing it.” Sans said, motioning to the monster huddled up into a ball on one of the beds and trembling harshly.

Asgore blinked twice before running up to him, “Ral?! Are you alright?” He reached forward to make sure nothing was wrong, only for Ral to shake his head.

“S-sorry, I'm out of it now... I was just reflecting on... the next one.” He said with a massive frown as he reached over, gripping the stump of where his arm used to be, “Tomorrow we'll meet the parents of the most violent child to fall, the one that took my arm from me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One of my big double-edged swords is that my stories are super formulaic, it helps keep things flowing in an agreeable fashion, but also makes it predictable. 
> 
> This past segment was fun to do, reflecting on how Ral wasn't the best person back then and managed to get pulled out of it by someone who was, morally, probably even worse. I had a ton of fun writing his interactions with Cinna, only the second OC this story possesses but one I feel has a pretty good personality.
> 
> A wild Sans appears, he's too fun and has too much depth to leave out of a story like this, though he'll get his time to shine later.
> 
> Also, A-hole parent number one appears in a verbal mention, so I've changed the tags to reflect it.
> 
> Next up is going to be interesting to write up.
> 
> This is a BIG chapter, bigger than anything I've wrote, I wasn't expecting it to get over ten pages, but I just kept writing.


	3. Dark Blue: Who didn't show Mercy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WELP, this is a thing.

Toriel was walking through the ruins on her daily business as usual, going to check the grave of her deceased child and see if any humans had fallen down. After the last one, she had made herself more resolved to protect the rest of them, and that included more frequent visits to the hole they were most likely to fall down.

Upon arriving for her daily check, she noticed it more or less immediately, the flowers were disturbed in a way that told her someone fell. She nodded sadly to herself before walking through the ruins, where were they? Her steps quickened as she walked through, eventually letting herself fall into one of the pitfalls, maybe they walked forward on their own and fell down one of the ruin's many pits?

She eventually reached the room with the six pitfalls, one of which hid the switch to proceed, and saw a Froggit and a Whimsum fleeing in what looked to be terror from one of the holes. She swiftly jumped down and saw a young, brown-haired child in a ballet outfit huddled in the corner, they were absolutely terrified, “Oh dear. Child, can you hear me?” She said as she approached tentatively.

The child looked up at her and backed up, eventually coming close to trying to climb up the wall in an attempt to escape. Toriel frowned again, “Oh, poor child, I can't imagine what those other monsters tried to do to you. Do not be afraid, I mean you no harm.” She stood there not moving while she waited for the child to calm down on their own, she didn't dare try to move in to make it worse.

Eventually, they finally started calming down enough to approach her, “See, it will be okay, my child. I am Toriel, I watch over this place to protect any children who fall down.” She glanced back to the exit with a slight glare, “Though, I was almost too late, I am glad they decided to run off.” At that, she extended a massive white paw out towards the child, “Come along with me, child, I will guide you to my home.” Tentatively, the child took her hand and followed her out and to Home. Because of the poor lighting, Toriel never saw the pile of dust laying in the corner of the room across from where the child was cowering.

The child stayed with her for several weeks this time. They didn't seem in any hurry to leave, but they would never tell Toriel the reason why they were at Ebott, nor did they say why they were comfortable living in a world of monsters, many of who wanted them dead.

Thus, it blindsided her when she walked into the child's room to see a note with a simple writing in crayon apologizing and the child nowhere in sight. They had left in the middle of the night while Toriel slept and gave her no opportunities to dissuade them. She began searching the ruins only to notice a lack of monsters. Eventually she called out to a Froggit, who nervously approached and informed her that the child, while Toriel thought they were out playing, was actually killing them.

Toriel was horrified, shocked, she had never considered the children might be violent. While she understood they may kill in self-defense, this was different. The child wasn't staying because they wanted to live with Toriel, they weren't staying because they didn't want to return to the surface. They were staying because they were getting stronger before leaving.

They were staying to grind EXP from the inhabitants of the ruins.

* * *

 

Ral catapulted from his bed hard enough to go into the air and crashed down loudly, jarring Asgore and Sans awake. He shook his head as he looked to his concerned brother and friend, “Nightmare.” He said lowly, a large frown on his face.

“Ral, if you don't wish to, you don't need to come with me to the next one.” Asgore said, a bitter smile on his face, “The next one... you probably don't want to meet their parents do you? You're scared of what they'll end up being like.” He had Ral entirely figured out, something the scholar didn't bother hiding, he just gave a slow nod.

“No, this one I especially need to go to, brother.” He responded, reaching over to grab the stump of his arm and smiling sadly, “But... hah... just thinking about it is giving me phantom pains...” His smile quickly inverted itself, “I'll... need some time to get ready, I don't suppose that you two would mind bringing me back breakfast?”

They didn't protest as the two of them left the room. As Asgore and Sans walked, the skeleton decided to break the silence, “he's not looking forward to this, huh? the third kid wasn't exactly before my time, but i would've been a baby bones still, what happened?”

Asgore frowned, “I'm still not entirely sure, all I know is that they were violent. They killed more monsters than the rest of the children combined, and Ral stopped them at the cost of his arm.” He sighed, “I've always felt like he never told me the full story, but at the same time... something like that, especially with how it ended? I am not going to and will never try to force him to tell me.”

“gotcha.” Sans responded, “sounds a lot like what happened with me and frisk in that other timeline.” He shook his head, “of course, the difference there is that he still feels guilt.” Asgore shot him a glance at that, one he picked up on, “i'm not the kind of person to let guilt like that eat at me, if i stood against them because of what they did, they deserved it. 'course, that timeline's gone and i don't actually remember it, ral's still living with the fact that's exactly how things happened.” He shrugged as they got into the elevator to go down to the lobby for breakfast.

They got their plates ready and went back up to the room so they could eat together. When they got back, Ral was sitting out on the balcony, staring out over the city and into the countryside beyond, “They're within walking distance, probably. From what I read they're a well off family, mansion and everything.” He frowned, “I'm really hungry.” He muttered as he looked back to see them standing there.

As they started eating, Ral couldn't help but notice they were both looking at him, “What?”

It was clear they wanted to pry about the third child, but Asgore spoke up first about a different topic, “Actually, I have a question.” He said, “Frisk and Asriel told me something about their journey, that when Asriel's SOUL was in Frisk's body, he was still conscious and could take control. You never told me anything like that, is it the same for you and Dad's?”

At that, Ral reached back to scratch the back of his neck, “Yeah, more or less.” He shrugged, “Dad's... not active very often. To be honest, he wasn't expecting to maintain his sentience as a SOUL. “The future is for those who are truly alive.” He said to me once a few hundred years ago.” He shrugged, “He can control my body, but he's only had to a handful of times, and he spends a lot of time in a kind of... hibernation? I'm not really sure what you'd call it, but he prefers to leave me the sole existence in my body. Strong emotions, stress, or calling on him wakes him up, otherwise he's in a deep sleep pretty much twenty-four seven.”

“Huh. Why didn't you tell me?” Asgore said.

Ral just gave two weak chuckles, “He wanted us to carry forward into the future without relying on him for advice when things go wrong, so he asked me to not tell you, he'll probably be mad at me next he wakes up.” He leaned forward some, “I appreciate you trying to change the topic, brother, but... I know what you really wanted to ask me.” He took in a deep breath as he looked over at Asgore and Sans, “The third kid... their story.”

* * *

 

_It had been another year or two since the last child fell, every year that passed without another child falling was a year that the pain lessened among the people, they weren't looking forward to avenging Asriel and wiping out humanity so much as they were simply being able to be free. I thought that maybe, if a few more years passed like this, we could have backed off?_

“Ngaaaah! Why are you so good at dodging!” A course, youthful voice cried out from the small room in front of Asgore's house. A small, fish-like monster was wildly swinging spears at Asgore, who was either blocking them or dodging them entirely, a calm smile on his face.

“Hoho, come now Undyne, fighting is not just about wildly swinging to try to take out your enemy, one needs tact and skill.” The large monster said with a smile as he instructed the girl how to fight. What was just a question asked out of a desire to be helpful had turned into a meaningful apprenticeship between the King and who, in the future, would grow up to be the leader of the Royal Guard.

Off to the side against the wall, Ral watched the two of them spar with a smile on his face as he switched back and forth from reading his book and watching the training go on. Eventually, Undyne got a good stab, it looked like she was actually going to land a blow, only for her to trip on her feet and stumble face first into the ground with a loud smack. Both of the boss monsters cringed as she got up and shook it off, “Hey! Don't show me sympathy, I'm not done training yet!”

“What a passionate kid.” Ral mused to himself before his phone began ringing. He picked it up and began speaking, “Hello?” He listened to the chatter on the other end, “Oh no...” He frowned as he looked to Asgore and Undyne training, “Right, I'll be there soon.” He said as he stood, causing the other two to look away from each other.

“Ral, something wrong? You look... distressed.” Asgore noted as he looked at him, “Who were you talking to?” He blinked for a second, then his expression grew grim, “Oh... that was a sentry, wasn't it?”

Ral nodded, “The third has been spotted... for better or for worse, I need to get out there, brother.”

Asgore nodded in response, his tone growing grim as Undyne looked between the two, confused about matters she was, at the time, too young to understand. “Stay safe.” Asgore called out to the other monster as he departed.

_Safe, I would call it wishful thinking but none of the children up to then had been violent, so it was easy to take it as a promise at face value. My steps guided me to Snowdin Town where I saw some monsters huddled up, I heard two distinct words spoken..._

Ral pushed his way through the crowd, the words “Human.” and “Child.” coming from nearby monsters. Was he too late? Had the kid already been cut down? He pushed to the front of the crowd and his eyes widened, “N-no...”

He sprinted, faster and harder than he had ever ran, into Waterfall. He tried to call the sentries, but nobody would answer, and the sentries always answered. He just kept running as he cut through a small path he knew of to avoid any large bodies of water.

He stopped to catch his breath in the cave just before the memorial to Asriel, then looked forward towards the “rainy” caverns ahead. His footsteps splashed softly as he walked through the watery hallways and saw them standing there; a human child, probably not even in the double digits age-wise, wearing a ballet tutu and shoes... and so caked in dust that if he didn't know what humans were supposed to look like, he would have taken their paled skin to mean they were a type of monster.

“Kid.” Ral said as he walked forward, the false rain pouring down around them, “You... why?” He questioned as he started closing the distance, “Tell me something... what was it? Was it because you were scared? Was it because you didn't think they could be pacified?” He stared the kid in the eye, trying to get a feel for their personality based on their expression.

“Was it because you could see it was making you stronger? Or because you could riffle through and find some money?” He narrowed his eyes as he looked forward at the child, “I don't think it matters, does it? Self-defense... I can forgive, even though you took lives there was the benefit of the doubt you did it because they were threatening to take yours.”

He clenched his fist, a small flare coming out of it as he closed his eyes, looking like he was about to start crying, “But... that doesn't explain... that's doesn't excuse...”

“Human...” He said, his voice growing bitter.

“Why did I see a mother crying over a striped shirt laying in a pile of dust?!” Ral all but roared, his emotions flaring up, “How could you even think killing a child, who would present no threat to you, was something that we'd just ignore?!” He started approaching, “Kid... your journey ends here.” He said as he readied to attack.

_Killing a child... I was having to focus on my anger over how many innocents they killed to even try to bring myself to strike against them... but... well..._

The child jumped toward Ral... and struck. “Gh...wha...what...?” Ral looked down at the child's foot, which had gone clear through his body, “Your LOVE... you're... that horrible of a creature?” He stumbled back as the child jumped away. Ral fell over, “Just like that? Not even... no...” He said sadly as he looked forward, his vision was getting blurry, and he could feel his body losing mass. He was turning to dust.

“Asgore... I...” He took in a small swallow as he looked to his hands losing their form, “I'm sorry... I failed.” He looked up and stared forward, his vision blurring, “Hahah... I...”

“Don't give in.” A voice called out in Ral's head, causing him to freeze, “Even if this happens, don't let this child be the one to continue.”

Ral blinked and nodded as he felt a second guiding will come to his hand, “Kid...” He said as he struggled to stand on legs that were quickly losing their solidity, “You're not going any farther! If I die here, you're following me!” He screamed as he threw one last desperate fireball, one with all of his form's magic in it, a move that would kill him if he wasn't already dying. The child's eyes opened in shock as the fireball landed dead on. He gave a weak smile... and everything went black.

_I died, simple as that. How am I still here then? I can tell by your expression Sans, you already know, don't you? That's right..._

He sprinted, faster and harder than he had ever ran, into Waterfall. He tried to call the sentries, but nobody would answer, and the sentries always answered. He just kept running as he cut through a small path he knew of to avoid any large bodies of water.

He stopped to catch his breath in the cave just before the memorial to Asriel, then looked forward, “Wait... why does... this feel so familiar?” He said as he felt a sensation he hadn't felt in centuries, “No way... is it?” He closed his eyes and focused on that errant ripple he had just felt. Eventually, he gripped his head in pain and his eyes opened in shock, “Oh no...”

_It was my worst fear, a child had fallen that had the power to SAVE, who could undo their death. And even worse, the one who had the determination to do so was one who was violent beyond belief._

Ral shook it off and proceeded forward, the child was standing there, waiting for him. “Kid.” Ral said as he walked forward, the false rain pouring down around them, “You... why?” He questioned as he started closing the distance, “Tell me something... how many times have you died?” The child's eyes opened wide at that, letting Ral see into those dusky brown pupils.

“It's been such a long time since I've felt the sensation of time shifting around me so drastically... I'm about to fight a losing battle, aren't I? Someone who can never be permanently killed?” He chuckled weakly and bitterly, fear clear in his voice, “But... I have to anyway, don't I?” He said as he stood tall and lit his hands up, “This is entirely personal, kid, but still, I'm sorry.”

The child took the initiative first, kicking him in the stomach. He buckled to his knees as he felt his form destabilizing, “A-again? So easily? D-damn.” He coughed as he felt his form weaken, “You're coming with me, back to your last checkpoint, human!” Ral cried as he threw another fireball. The child jumped over it nimbly, but Ral had prepared. He slammed his hands down, making a wall of fire erupt over where the child was in mid-jump.

He sprinted, faster and harder than he had ever ran, into Waterfall. He tried to call the sentries, but nobody would answer, and the sentries always answered. He just kept running as he cut through a small path he knew of to avoid any large bodies of water.

He stopped to catch his breath in the cave just before the memorial to Asriel, then looked forward, “Wait... why does...” He focused on the sensation, “Tch... third time's the charm, huh?”

_I was starting to be past the idea of killing them. They had proven to me they would kill me in every timeline I confronted them. Beyond the guilt, the fear and the anger, something else began to well up inside._

He walked into the next room, his eye steely with resolve, “Kid.” He said, the child didn't look thrilled, “Yeah, that's about how I feel right now.” He said as he walked up to them... and past them, “Follow me, I want you to see something.” The child frowned, but listened, mostly because there wasn't anywhere else to go anyway.

“How many people have you killed to have such power, so much LOVE? Twenty, thirty? Are you the reason the sentries aren't responding anymore?” He shook his head as they walked out of the rainy cave. New Home was in clear sight of them now, “This underground... you've followed the most linear path from point A to point B, but in reality it's massive. There are areas you'll never see, areas _I've_ never seen, and in them all, thousands upon thousands of monsters living happily, waiting for the day we can go free.”

“But you...” He looked at the child, “If you reach the city, how many people will die? How many will you kill to sate your thirst for power? Do you even care about their age?” He scowled, “I don't care how many times I have to make you reset this timeline. I don't care how much I see myself die.” A gentle light began to glow from Ral's chest, a soft red, and behind it, a glow of white, “You're not proceeding.”

The child lashed forward and Ral raised his left arm to block it, better to lose a limb than to die immediately, right?

Wrong.

The impact caused his arm to shatter into dust immediately, “G-Gaaaaah!” Ral screamed as he stumbled back, looking at the dust all around his body. Even taking it to an extremity wasn't enough, he could feel the rest of his form destabilizing already.

_The truth of that battle... I've always lied about exactly what happened, simplified it to hide the fact that I didn't just kill them and lose my arm... I didn't want you knowing that I was ready to trap myself in a time loop where I'd see myself die over and over again. But... as they say, third time's the charm._

He knelt down, ready to kill the child and start over... and then the images began to flash in his head. He saw the child standing in the streets of new home, empty clothing strewn everywhere in piles of dust that went up to the kid's ankles. He saw Asgore being cut down in a single blow, no chance to fight back. He saw the child returning to the surface, full of murderous intent with his brother's SOUL held hostage in their body.

“I said you're not leaving.” Ral said lowly, his voice was full of venom as he stood up like the wound he sustained was nothing, “I'm resolved to... no, I'm DETERMINED to stop you here!” He roared as the lights from his SOUL flashed brilliantly. The dust on the ground that was once his arm was swept up in a vortex and found its way back to his body. Bit by bit, it solidified into a new form. His arm was now much larger and longer than the other, the claws on the end had extended to the size of swords, overall, it looked almost like a metal prosthesis instead of a biological arm.

Ral looked forward, beneath his hood his normally blue eyes were flashing black and purple from calling on determination, “It's a beautiful sight, isn't it? The fake stars lighting up the cavern. New Home shining in the background, our beacon of hope. What a wonderful grave... for a demon like you!”

_What? Why are you looking at me like that Sans? You don't have the monopoly on one-liners you know._

With a bestial scream, Ral took a swipe with that freakish determination created claw and sent a massive firestorm towards the child, who watched for an opening and moved through it as it spun. They responded by leaping forward and trying to strike him again, only for him to raise his new weapon to block. It was a solid hit, but it wasn't near enough to kill him.

“You've ruined everything, kid.” Ral said lowly as he slammed the claws into the earth, causing a five-pronged wall of fire to erupt from the ground. The child showed elegance and grace as they skipped over, but the last wall came out too fast, they were singed, but not killed. The counter was fast and harsh, another blow that he blocked with his arm. He gave a grunt of pain as his eyes flashed with the power of determination.

“I was hopeful that maybe we could have stopped killing humans, maybe I could have talked everyone out of it and found another way to go free... but...” He raised his hand and summoned a fireball that was the size of a boulder. He hurled the massive projectile towards the kid, who watched patiently before running under it as it bounced off the ground.

The child rushed forward and struck, another hit to barely any effect. “But now...” Ral said, “The drive to go further and wipe out humanity if we ever go free will be re-lit. When you're gone, you've more or less ensured humanity will go with you... even though you're barely human yourself at this point, right?” He flexed the freakish claws before scraping up against the ground, sending another wall of fire. To add onto it, he chucked another wall of fire that exploded behind, creating a wall that closed in from the other side.

The child tried to jump, but the timing was so deliberate that it was unavoidable. They let out a high pitched yell as they stumbled through the flames and struggled to stand. They threw themselves at the scholar and hit his arm with a massive amount of LOVE behind the attack. Ral let out a pained scream as the two SOULs in his body flashed brightly. He was starting to slow down, but he wasn't giving up.

“I don't know if I can stop this from becoming a cycle but... maybe I can convince you to stay dead by making you see how futile continuing is.” He said as he summoned a ring of fire around the kid and closed it in. The child gracefully jumped over the flames and struck him again. He hissed as he stumbled back, “Not... yet.”

“I'm terrified of dying for good, especially to the likes of you, but I have family waiting to see me return, people who smile and wave at me when I walk down the streets, who I all know by name. This isn't a perfect world, but it's mine, and you're not taking it away from me!” With the child so close he could make a physical strike. Targeting the child's SOUL, his claws heated up with fire and he took a massive swipe that hit the child's heart dead on and sent them flying back screaming.

Weakened and struggling to stand, the child stumbled forward and struck him again. He let out another loud roar of agony as his arm started to change shape... his determination was keeping him running beyond a fatal wound, and that was making him melt.

“Wh-what's happening?” He shook his head, “N-no... I'm still not giving up here... Kid.” He opened his eyes as the light of two SOULs flashed brilliantly from his chest, “Once, long ago, I learned that when human determination and boss monster magic meets in a singular body, the world around them breaks...” He took in a deep sigh as he gathered his magic, “Want to see a magic trick? I'll show you the greatest spell you'll ever see!” He threw both his arms out, leaving him wide open, but... things around him suddenly grew blurry.

The world around them began to shift as the scholar's eyes flashed a brilliant shade of purple, “Burn against the weight of your sins!” The cave suddenly turned into a vortex that was engulfed in flames, the ground beneath the child seemed to vanish under their feet... and they fell down.

_Breaking reality by using magic and determination in excess, something that the last natural human magicians did to create the barrier, what I did to turn into a boss monster those centuries ago... I realize now, in retrospect, they didn't reload after that kill because I temporarily became far more determined then they were, they couldn't load or reset. Their journey ended there._

Reality went back to normal as quickly as it changed, the child's body was laying seared and motionless across from the boss monster. Ral fell to his knees and he started coughing, “H-heh... no reset?” He looked over to his arm, “Looks like my time's over? What's... happening to my body? Melting?” He frowned and chuckled bitterly, “So be it... at least... I stopped them.”

“Don't give up like that, Ral.” The gruff voice called out to his mind, “I saw this once nearly an eternity ago, I'm not sure what it is, but I know it can be stopped... just trust me.” There was a jolt as control switched between Ralochs and the old king, Gorel, the SOUL inside his body.

“I trust you, father.” Ral said lowly as he closed his eyes for whatever would come next. In control of the scholar's body, the monster lit his right arm with a brilliant flame and took a harsh swipe towards his left. Ral let out a loud scream from the pain and then whited out.

Ral eventually came to “What... am I dead?” He said as he looked around. He knew this place, he was near the Blook family farm. He smiled weakly, “Someone... saved me?” He took a deep inward breath as he pulled his arms inwards, “I'm alive.” He laughed happily as he looked at his arms through his blurry, pain-disoriented vision.

Soon enough, however, his sight cleared, and he came to realize that he wasn't looking at two arms, and what he thought was bringing them both up was a phantom sensation, he had only one. “My...” He said in shock, then closed his eyes, reflecting on what happened, “...ah.” He chuckled again, numb from the shock, “Where is that child?” He looked around to see them laying across from him, whoever had saved his life didn't take the child for the sake of a reward. He looked over at the broken and burned body, SOUL still hovering over it, and he just began to cry, “I actually did it, didn't I? I killed them...”

_How do you rationalize killing anybody? Especially a child, even if they were a violent one. The rationalization I made to bring myself to kill them wasn't as effective now that I had actually taken their life. I'm not a hateful man, I'm not a fighter, I did it to protect us but I still couldn't handle what I had done now that I had the time to reflect on it. I broke down sobbing and stayed like that for hours until old man Gerson found me. He helped me up and helped me limp back to New Home, and also carried the child's body for me._

The door to Asgore's house opened and Asgore looked over, “Ral, wel- Oh no!” He dropped his teacup on the ground, it shattered as he saw his brother... and the child, “N-no, no no no!”

Ral just looked up at Asgore, eyes full of tears and a broken smile on his face, “Asgore... why are we doing this?” He said weakly before collapsing.

_I was comatose for a week, but healed enough by whoever saved me that I didn't have to rely on determination to keep me alive, good thing too, I didn't want to become an amalgamate. I held on because there was one predominant thought in my head the entire time; if I died at the hands of a human, your fury would be renewed and nothing would be able to stop you from seeing the plan through to its conclusion._

_The child's rampage re-ignited a hatred of humanity in a lot of monsters. I still remember how furious Undyne was when she saw what they did to me the next time she came to train with you, and that wasn't a sentiment that only she shared. All of that child's victims were mourned, and many of their relatives called on your promise to wipe out humanity... and me? I had saved us and gone from being just a member of the royal family to a genuine hero in the eyes of monsters, but once again I had failed to stop us from going after humanity._

* * *

 

Ral shook his head as his story ended, he had long since finished his breakfast and was laying on the bed with his back to the headboard, “I still struggle between feeling justified in what I did, and horrified that I took a child's life, even in defense of myself and others.” He sighed.

Asgore and Sans both looked shocked, “I... I never imagined...” Asgore said weakly, “I had always thought you maybe weren't being entirely truthful about what happened that day... but to be willing to trap yourself in a time loop... to die like that more than once.” He lowered his head, “And you did that because of me and my plan.”

“Hey, none of that.” Ral chastised, “What I chose to do was my decision alone, even if it was motivated out of my love and loyalty to you and monsters, I think I would have done it even if I wasn't someone close to you.” Asgore just nodded, but it was clear he was saddened, and probably felt like it was partially his fault.

“yeah... that's...” Sans trailed off, his eyes closed, “i mean, even when it was my turn for similar events in that other timeline, i would have done so knowing my first death would be it.” He shrugged “you definitely got way more determination in you than me, and not just the physical kind, metaphysical crap too.” He walked up to sit on the bed, “but hey, maybe it's not my place to say, but you should stop caring so much.” Ral lifted his head at that, “remember what dad said? you didn't just stop that kid, you taking someone else's place meant they got to live.”

Ral looked at the skeleton and nodded twice, “You're... right, I suppose. In the grand scheme, I'm glad to lose an arm to avoid one more casualty, even if, in the original version of events their last attack still killed the child. Still...” He sighed, “It's not going to do us any good to sit here like this, we'll just wind up talking in circles, I'm going to get dressed and we'll head out, alright?”

“sounds good to me, i'll be waiting out front, should i tell 'em to book us another night?” Sans said as he turned to walk out of the room.

Asgore nodded, “That sounds good, we'll come back here once we're done and stay another night, no sense sleeping in Ral's car when we already have this suite.” Sans nodded and gave a wave as he exited the room. Asgore smiled weakly as he looked towards his brother, who was more or less ready, “Well, shall we?”

Sans just gave a sigh as he walked into a shortcut at the end of the hallway, vanishing into thin air into a pocket in time-space, “i get it, he's still so guilty because despite everything, he forgave them for it, guy's a way better person with that than i was.” He shook his head, his smile growing a bit weary, “but that's just how it goes, we can't all move past seeing innocent people dusted so easy.” He closed his eyes as he walked, flashes of memories running through his head.

As the three of them drove out of the city to the near countryside, the observed a marked difference in environment. The skyscrapers gave way to forest and trees, apartments gave way to lavish mansions. It was clear this was a place the privileged lived.

“faaaaancy.” Sans said as he observed, “gotta be some real bigwigs out here, every one of these houses could put the castle in new home to shame.”

“That's what I'm afraid of.” Ral said.

“What do you mean?” Asgore questioned as he looked at the mansions.

“We don't really hold royalty over the heads of our subjects, we're leaders and the ones everyone comes to, but we don't exactly force people to bow to us or lord over them how special we are because of it.” A slight scowl came to his face as he continued, “Privileged humans though... in my - admittedly limited - experience, they make a point of always letting you know how special they are compared to your average person, how their money or how they earn their money makes them a superior being.” He shrugged and shook his head, “It's just like the nobles back when I was human, at least today angering one doesn't get you killed. Either way, if we want to get heard you'll probably have to introduce yourself by title.” He said, looking to Asgore. Asgore frowned at that, then nodded.

The trio proceeded to the gate of one of the mansions and peeked in. It was about as lavish as all the rest, there was no practical way whoever lived in there could utilize all of the rooms unless their family was massive. Ral stepped to the side to let Asgore be the one to press the intercom button, “Yes, what is your business?” A stuffy, upper-class voice spoke through the intercom.

“Uhm... howdy!” Asgore said back, introducing himself, “I am Asgore Dreemurr, king of the monsters, are you the owners of this house?”

“Oh my! Royalty! Hold one second and I shall let the mister and missus know of your arrival.” The voice responded. The three shared glances back and forth as they waited for him to come back, only for the automated gate to slide open.

“Well, I guess we're allowed to continue then.” Ral said as he started approaching the mansion.

“heh, i already got a feeling these guys're gonna tick me off, you two have fun.” Sans said with a wink... with his right eye, leaving his left open, before ducking into a shortcut.

As the two of them approached the door, they swung open to reveal a well-dressed man, a butler by the looks of things, “May I present the masters.” He said as he stepped aside with a bow to show two very well-dressed humans descending down the stairs.

“Oh my! This unexpected indeed, we've dined with royalty before but never have we had it show up on our doorstep. And the king of monsters of all things, we've watched many of your speeches before.” The male of the couple said. Asgore reached up to rub the back of his neck, not sure how to feel about the flattery. “And who is this stylish individual next to you?” He added, pointing out Ral's beret of all things.

“Ah, I am Ralochs Dreemurr, my official title is royal librarian but... in human society I suppose that would make me more of a lore keeper, I'm also Asgore's little brother.” Ral said with a courteous bow.

“So fascinating. What brings you two silken furred creatures to our humble abode?” The woman said with a self-assured smile. Ral looked to his brother and raised an eyebrow, mouthing something to him.

Asgore coughed a bit, “Yes... well, it's not happy business.” He dipped his head, “I...”

“Oh wait wait wait, before we get to any sad stuff, please, let us give you a tour of our manor, it's not often we get visitors at all, much less those of such high social standing.” The lady cut in, interrupting him mid-sentence. Asgore looked to Ral who simply responded by shaking his head, a look of vindication was clear in his eyes as the couple started leading them down the hallways of the manor.

They pretty much proved Ral and Sans right with their tour, every word an exhaustive, almost practiced speech about their individual purposes. No detail was spared, it seemed like they knew the craftsman of every stray piece of wood that went into their wall, all of them long and confusing and part of a brand that only the “elite” could afford. The two monsters played their part as well as they could, smiling and nodding and giving the proper noises of appreciation to appease their hosts. Eventually, they settled in the dining hall where they were brought tea.

“This tea is made from the finest leaves imported directly from an Chinese plantation that's existed since the A.Ds, we had to pay a fortune for it and we just never wound up drinking it because it's like drinking away millions, but I feel like this is a perfect occasion to break it out.” The wife said as the cups were brought to them.

“I'm honored that you would consider this so special.” Asgore said as he took a sip of the tea and gave an awkward swallow. He looked to Ral with a kind of pleading look on his face. Apparently money is no replacement for quality.

“So, what was it that you came here for?” The male said, finally letting them all get down to business.

Ral took a deep sigh that just screamed 'finally' to it, “Yes... about two decades ago, children started falling into our prison, the underground. I have reason to believe yours may have been one of them.”

Their faces both immediately fell at that, “Ah.” The wife said, “Yes... that.”

“That?” Ral said, raising an eyebrow.

“The loss of our child was unfortunate, but we've long since moved on.” The man added, taking a sip of his tea.

“Moved on?” Asgore said. He was clearly uncomfortable.

“The child never really was our child, it spent most of its life raised by the maids.” The wife responded.

“It?” Ral was starting to scowl. Were they really not even treating the child like they were a human being? What were these people? “They died down there.” He quickly added.

“Ah.” The husband responded, “Did you give them a proper burial?” Ral tensed up a bit, and nodded. He was trying and failing to keep his cool at how coldly these people were brushing off the death of what he assumed was their only child, they weren't even treating them like they were human.

“You don't seem upset at all.” Asgore said, his face was growing uncharacteristically grim.

“Money can't mourn, your highness.” The wife said, “It was truly a miserable tragedy, but we've moved on, what happened when they disappeared was none of our business.”

Ral stood, “None of your...” He grimaced, “Your child KILLED people!” They both froze at that, “Monsters... are very sensitive to negativity, it doesn't matter if they're a child or an adult, if they're attacking with a weapon or their bare limbs... your child, something made them so hateful that they were able to kill a lot of innocent monsters before they were stopped in self-defense... they were the one who took my arm.”

Asgore looked at Ral with a frown. The parents were staring forward, shocked. Did they finally get through to them?

“Ah, I'm sorry it inconvenienced you like that.” The male said after another minute. Ral and Asgore both froze at that, “If it makes a difference, we'll send restitution to the families of the deceased.”

They were brushing it - all of it - off like it was nothing. They didn't care their child killed people, they didn't care that their child was killed, and they didn't care that one of their victims was staring them dead in the eyes telling them about it. They were just ready to throw money at it and let it be done. Ral was fuming, and Asgore was speechless.

“I see.” Ral said, “Well, if you're certain that is all, then we should end our visit here, Asgore, shall we?”

“Y-yes, it was lovely meeting you.” Asgore said as he stood.

“It was a pleasure your highness.” The woman said, her facade going back to that cheery, peppy outlook they were wearing earlier, “And please, don't hesitate to come back, our doors are always open to you and your brother.” The male nodded in response as the two of them walked towards the door.

Once they were outside and past the gate. Ral quickly and quietly turned off and walked into the forest, “Ral?” Asgore called out to him, worry clear in his voice.  
  
“Scumbags!” Ral screamed out from deep enough in the forest that nobody could hear him, he was throwing fire all over the place, letting his emotions go haywire, “No wonder they were so violent!” He said as a fireball splashed against a tree, “Having parents like that who just brush you off? Treating you like you were property? Rrrgh!” He took a swipe of his claws, sending out a wave of fire that cut clear through the tree.

“it was really that bad, huh?” Sans said as he walked out from behind the tree Ral had just annihilated. The boss monster looked to the skeleton and nodded, “you done?” He questioned. Ral just nodded again and took in a deep breath as he remotely snuffed out the magical fire burning at the trees. “good, if those parents were exactly what you thought they were, do i have a surprise for you.” He said, producing a book.

Earlier in that day...

“Hey Sans...” Ral said as they drove around the city, they were going to get lunch while Asgore stayed at the hotel to make sure everything was set for them to stay another night.

“yeah?” Sans responded, looking out the window at the towering buildings and not bothering to look at him.

“I need a favor.” Ral said.

“how big of one?” Sans responded, looking over towards him.

“The biggest... I need you to break into their house.” Ral responded grimly.

“what?” Sans said, blinking, “aren't we trying to stay friends with the humans?”

“Yes, but...” He grimaced, “Something is wrong beyond belief in their family, namely... that child that died? Apparently still alive.” Sans' head jolted up at that.“Star ballet dancer, looks just like her parents, looks just like the kid would if they were alive. Sans, I have an idea of why that is, I want to know if I'm right.” Ral said with a scowl on his face.

Sans' grin fell some, “heh, i know what you're thinking. geez, if they actually did do that... whew.” He rubbed the back of his head, “yeah, i'll see what i can do, don't worry about it.” He said with a wink. Ral gave him a thankful smile.

While Ral and Asgore were being yanked around the mansion on their guided tour, Sans appeared from a shortcut in front of an impressive looking vault, “man, these guys are the definition of “rich in money, poor in sense”, ain't even a security camera around.” He mused to himself, “if they're keeping some kind of horrible secret, i bet on my funny bone it's in here.” He walked up to the vault and tapped on it twice, “yep, tumblers. pretty good to try to get humans with but uh... no.” His eye flashed blue as he used his gravity magic to make all the tumblers go up at once. Just like that, the vault opened and the skeleton walked inside, “hmmm.” He hummed to himself as he looked around.

“bank notes, bar of gold, nugget of gold.” He said as he somewhat haphazardly tossed stuff out, “wonder what these guys do for a living they'd literally have gold bars sitting in a vault.” He kept browsing until eventually finding a journal so caked in dust that it probably hadn't been touched in years, “well, what have we here?” He popped it open and started reading, “holy crap, it's worse than i figured, ral's gonna flip.” He put it away, and, showing a great force of will, worked past his nature to clean up after himself before he walked out, closing the vault behind him to leave no evidence of his arrival and then vanishing into his shortcut.

“aaaand that's how i got here.” Sans said as he leaned against the smoldering tree Ral took his frustration out on, “here, catch. start at page forty.” He said as he tossed the journal to the monster. Ral caught it and opened it, beginning to read.

As he started turning pages, his eyes began to open wider and wider, “N-no way... these people are... I'm gonna be ill.” He said with disgust in his voice.

“Ral, there you are, I- what is that?” Asgore said as he came out from the brush to see Ral reading the journal.

“She's gone, my wife and I have left our child at Mt. Ebott, where children disappear to never be seen again. I feel sort of bad, but... she can't dance, can't put on a happy face for guests, what use is a child like that?” Ral clenched his fist over the book in anger, crumbling the pages a bit, “We'll pay off child services to find us a kid that looks like her, hopefully the next one will actually be able to dance.”

Asgore was staring into the distance and even Sans seemed horrified, “They...” Ral said, “They abandoned her at Ebott to kill her because... she didn't fit their standards? She wasn't a perfect little wind-up doll so they just got rid of her and replaced her with someone similar?” He tossed the book back to Sans before winding up a massive fireball that blew right through a nearby tree, “Demons!” He roared, “No wonder I've always been haunted by killing that child, it's the parents that my anger has always belonged with. And the worst part is, I can't do anything to them.” He said, sulking over against the tree stump. Asgore followed behind and knelt down to show him his support.

Sans gave a wink, looking unconcerned with Ral's crisis, “well, i'm not sure if it'll work, if anything will be fixed, but... it'd be something for the press to talk about if this turned up as anonymous evidence at the local police station, huh?” They both looked to him.

“Perhaps... it might be the only thing we can do.” Asgore said with a sigh, “Come on, Ral, let's get back to the hotel.” Ral nodded twice before standing and walking out of the forest, back to where they parked.

They got into the car and headed back into the city, and into their hotel room. Sans disappeared as they walked, they had a pretty good idea where he had gone. After their dinner arrived and they ate, Asgore walked out on the balcony again to talk to Toriel.

“How was it?” She asked as she picked up the phone. Asgore gave a loud sigh.

“They...” He took in a deep breath before taking time to explain everything that they had seen, about how they were wealthy and had outright abandoned their child to certain death because they weren't perfect enough for them.

“How... how awful.” Toriel said after he finished explaining clearly at a loss for words, “I thought yesterday would be the worst of it but... goodness.”

“Sans is going to leave their journal at the police station, he's told us that there was enough evidence in there for a “slam dunk”, in his words.” Asgore responded with a frown, “I'm not even sure what to say at this point.”

“What words can be said? Their parents are truly awful creatures, all we can hope is that their money doesn't buy them out of what they did when it catches up to them.” Toriel responded with a sigh.

As the two of them talked back and forth, Ral and Sans were watching TV in the bedroom when Sans looked over, “so, uh, question, who did save you?” Ral looked over towards the skeleton, his face curling up a bit into a smirk.

* * *

 

“Walk wlk welk.” The little creature hummed to itself as it walked down the hallways of Waterfall, “OfF to find... TEM flakes!” The Temmie sang to itself as it wandered idly, only to see two figures in the road ahead, “H0I!” It called to the two figures, neither one responded, “...H0I!” It tried again, still no response. It skipped up further to look over the two, the human was too far gone, but it was clear the boss monster was still alive.

“Oh my gosh! He's really hurt!” The Temmie said in perfect English, “Time fer... TEM HELP!” It produced a whistle and blew it loudly. Within seconds, more Temmies flooded into the room and surrounded the monster, “Rdy?”

“HOI!” They all cried at once.

“Tim for... TEM MAGIC!” The Temmie all began to glow brilliantly as the caves echoes with a loud cry of “H0IIIIIIIIII!” Once it subsided, Ral was sleeping off the exhaustion, but their magic had closed up the wound and stabilized his wavering form. They had saved him.

“Kayo, TEM TRIBE, letz mov.” At that, the Temmies picked up the monster and the human and shuffled him to Gerson's shop. The aged turtle monster agreed to make sure Ral would wake up and saw the Temmies off as they swarmed back home.

_I'll be honest with you Sans, I have no bloody idea._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I'm done tempting fate on chapter sizes because if I keep going chapter 4 will be big enough to fill a paperback.
> 
> This was a deciding moment in Ral's character history as it's sorted itself out, so I tried my hardest do it justice and work out the fight the way it would theoretically happen in the game itself. I think it wound up being shorter than it would otherwise, but I'm still proud of it.
> 
> Sans' apathy makes him a fun character to have bear witness to existential moments like that, I wonder what he's talking about though.
> 
> So uh... those parents weren't suppose to be THAT bad in the draft, I'm not sure what possessed me to write them in such a way that they make Chara look like a cub scout, but hey, it works out I guess? I'm definitely the type of person to believe that bad parents lead to bad kids.


	4. Interlude: Who Left His Humanity Behind

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, one might think I was just covering the six human SOULs, this story is actually about reflection on all of the humans to enter the underground, so this time it's Ral's turn.

The next morning came, things were pretty silent in the hotel suite the three of them had stayed in overnight. Ral got up and wandered into the kitchen to throw on some coffee when he looked outside and noticed Asgore on the balcony talking on his phone. “So early?” He questioned aloud before shrugging it off.

Eventually Asgore finished his call and walked back in, “Oh! Morning, how long ago did you wake up?” He said, tilting his head a bit. The smaller monster just took a sip of his coffee.

“Ah, a few minutes ago. Who was that?” Ral questioned, trying his best to not sound nosy even though his comment couldn't be construed as anything else.

“Ah... that was home.” Asgore said with a frown as he pulled up a chair, “Frisk is having nightmares again.” He added lowly.

“Again? They haven't had nightmares since last Fall, do you think they're starting to reflect on those other timelines again?” He said, taking a shot in the dark.

Asgore shook his head in response, “I asked, they assured me it wasn't that but... they didn't want to tell me.” He stared ahead at the wall for a second, “I'll have to ask them when I get home, if it's something awful, I want to be there in person for them.”

Ral had a sort of knowing glance in his eyes as Asgore spoke, like he knew something his brother didn't. “Probably for the better.” He said as he took another sip, “I wonder...” He added as he continued thinking, getting a questioning glance from the other boss monster, “Ah, nevermind.”

“man, you two're being way too loud so early.” Sans said as he walked up groggily, scratching the back of his skull, “seriously, you two are loud enough to wake the dead.” Ral and Asgore both stared right through him at that, eliciting some pleased chuckles from the skeleton.

“Besides, what do you mean early it's... nine?! How did I sleep so late?” Ral said, finally taking a glance at a nearby clock.

“Oh...” Asgore responded, “You were sleeping heavily, I figured you probably wouldn't want to be woken. I think you used a lot of magic when you got so angry yesterday, so you probably needed to recharge.”

“Fair enough, and here I was thinking you were just up early, I'm usually the first awake.” Ral responded as he watched Sans meander over to the fridge and start downing a bottle of ketchup, “I still don't understand how you can tolerate that.”

“it takes years of training, maybe if you try hard enough, one day you'll be able to ketchup to me.” Ral's eyebrows twitched slightly. Somewhere in the distance, a rimshot could be heard sounding off.

“Err, right, anyway, where to next?” Asgore said, looking to his brother.

Ral just smiled somewhat somberly, “Well, we'll have to cross the channel to the UK next, from here, the rest of the children were foreign... but...” He looked away from the two of them to stare out the windows, “There's actually somewhere else I'd like to go first, if you two wouldn't mind.” At that, he turned his gaze back to the other two.

“You seem to not want to go, but if it's not about the children, then what is is?” Asgore questioned as he looked out the window in the direction Ral was just staring.

“I... for a few hours, I want to go see the home of the human who stumbled into the underground a thousand years ago.” He said as he reached up to his chest, a weak smile on his face, “He needs to be laid to rest too.” He closed his eyes for a second.

“Gee... of course we'll go! I want to see what the place you came from is like.” Asgore said. He looked rather excited at the prospect of going somewhere else. Perhaps moreso, he may have been thankful that he'd have a chance to rest from the emotional trauma of the past three days.

“sure, i bet it'll be a fun time, how far out are we looking at?” Sans said as he stood up and stretched.

Ral chuckled, “Well, the last time I made the trip it took me nearly a month, now though? It's probably an eight hour drive. My how cars and highways have changed things.” He shook his head, suddenly feeling like an absolute relic.

The three of them got their possessions together and left the room. Sans and Asgore walked outside while Ral saw to checking them out, “Uhm, hey Sans... about those last parents, did you...” He trailed off, a large frown on his face.

“no, not yet.” Sans said, picking up on what he was about to say, “i'm gonna give it a few months, it'll be suspect as heck if that evidence turns up within the same time we visited them, it'll cast a lot of questions on us.”

“I see...” Asgore raised an eyebrow, “You are... very good at doing wrong things.” He said, taking note of Sans' surprising foresight into something more or less blatantly illegal, even though the reason for it was justifiable. Sans just shrugged in response as Ral walked outside and the three of them loaded up the car and started driving.

“so, what's your home like?” Sans said as they started to drive.

“I... can't say. I never left the general area of Ebott, so it's been nearly nine-hundred years since I've been back.” He started reflecting, “It was a bigger town for that age, centered around a monastery who specialized in the history of monsters.” He snerked at that, “Or at least what humans wanted the war to look like a century later.” He added.

“You told me about that.” Asgore cut in, “You told me that humans justified the war before and after by saying we struck first and there were casualties.” Ral was frowning, clearly not thrilled by the blatant revisionism humans went through to tell themselves the war was okay. He seemed to be ignoring his willingness to do the same to the history in the underground.

“huh.” Sans added, “pretty not okay thing to do.”

“Yeah, if I had been able to return home, I would have told the truth and chewed out the elders who were alive for the war. But... humans don't appreciate their enemies being humanized, I probably would have been banished for it, if not killed outright.” He let out a harsh sigh, “I'm glad that humanity has changed for the better with the years, the world was an awful place back then.”

They spent a few hours driving down the highway, sharing conversation and jokes to pass the time it would take. Eventually they turned off the highway and started driving into the town that had been built over the old village he used to call home. Things had only somewhat changed from the past, it was a college town now filled with people interested in knowledge... among the other things college had in it.

The three of them, as per what they had been doing, got out of the car to spend most of the time walking through to take in the sights as they wandered down the sidewalk. People were taking note of them just like the first town, they could tell from the looks they were getting alone that there probably weren't any monsters living here.

“So... can you two go occupy yourselves?” Ral questioned. He didn't look very happy to be asking them to separate, but at the same time it was clear he felt like he needed to, “I actually want to go check something.”

“Are you certain?” Asgore responded as he looked to the shorter monster. Ral just nodded in response. “Well, if you insist, Sans, do you think there's anything nearby to pass the time?”

“college town? prolly. lemme ask ya something asgore, you know what a keg stand is?” Sans said as he started walking, beckoning for Asgore to follow.

“Hm? No, I've never heard of it, continue, please.” He said as the two of them walked out of earshot.

“I swear to God.” Ral said as he watched them disappear, “I've... actually never seen Asgore drink anything but tea, if Sans is about to do what I think he's about to do...” He shook his head, pushing those thoughts out of his head as his steps started carrying him.

“The roads never went away. They're paved now, replaced by sidewalks, and the wood and thatch huts replaced by brickwork buildings. But I can still remember walking this road through the fog of the ages that blots my memory sometimes.” He mused as he walked along the road, his mind started to idly drift back to those days.

* * *

 

A thousand years ago, the village was just that, a medieval village that was mostly wood, mud and thatch, there was only one stonework building in sight that the rest of village was built up around. A monastery well known for teaching philosophers and writers. And also charged with keeping the memories of the war of monsters straight.

“Hey!” A young, blond-haired human called out, “Jean! Wait up!”

The thin, black-haired human turned around to catch sight of his friend running up to him, “Oh hi, Marc.” He responded.

“I heard the elders summoned you, what did they want to talk to you about?” He said with a smile over the honor his friend had managed to attain.

“Oh... well, they want me to go... there.” Jean responded, a bittersweet smile on his face.

Immediately his friend's smile faded, “W-wait, they're sending you to Mt. Ebott? Jean, that's...”

“Nobody who goes to that cursed mountain ever returns, I know.” He said, cutting the other man off, “You know how it goes. My parents will be taken care of if I accept, they'll be set for the rest of their lives, that's the promise and they've followed it up with the other scholars who have left and...” He frowned, “Never come back.”

“It's suicide, you know that!” Marc said, losing his composure, “Come on Jean! You have to know this is an awful idea, if you go, there's a very good chance you won't come back.”

“But think of what happens if I do! Nobody's returned yet, exactly! If I'm the one who comes back with a book full of information I'll be rewarded beyond belief! I might even be elevated to nobility, I might even serve a king as an adviser one day.”

_Oh the irony._

“Well, hey, promise me something okay?” He said.

“Hm?” Jean responded, looking his friend in the eyes.

“Promise me you'll come back, okay?”

Rather than respond, he just smiled and nodded before walking off. The next day came and he exited the monastery doors with a large pack of supplies to last him over his journey to the mountain, upon exiting he saw the rest of the students, the teachers, and even his parents, all cheering him on and wishing him well.

“Everyone!” He called out, “I'll come back home one day, just watch! I'll come back and I'll bring the truth about monsters with me!”

_I really did give it up that easily, didn't I? Why am I having regrets about it just now?_

“Hey Ral.” Asgore's words started to echo in the scholar's mind, “If you could have one wish, what would it be, to go back to the surface?”

“You know the answer to that, brother. This is my home now.”

_At that time... I... well, I did answer with my heart but... I had convinced myself that I wouldn't want to return home even if the option presented itself, why tease myself with false hope? By the time I actually had the means to leave the barrier and go home, I had disassociated myself from humanity so much that another path was chosen for me by chaotic magic reflecting the desires of my heart._

_I told myself that I wanted to stay in the underground because I had a family down there but... I had friends didn't I? Family. Even the elders, furious as I was to learn they lied about the war, I still respected them and they chose me for a reason. I really gave that up, didn't I?_

* * *

 

Ral's steps had carried him to the town's graveyard. He walked into it, not knowing where specifically he was going as he spoke to the air, “Hey guys, are you here?” He said as if he was expecting an answer, “It's me, Jean.” How long had it been since he had used that name? It felt odd coming across his lips as he knelt down in the center of the graveyard, eventually going into a sit, “I know, you probably don't think it's me but it is... I've... the years have been strange to put it lightly.” He shook his head, tears starting to fall.

“You've all left haven't you? I'd feel miserable if I knew you were waiting here for me to return. You probably thought I broke my promise didn't you?” He laughed to himself, “To be fair... you're not incorrect, things have been so confusing these past few years. At one point I was even told I wasn't supposed to exist, I died and the only reason I'm alive is because I'm a temporal paradox. How do you even respond to being told that?” He put his hand to his chin, starting to lose himself in existential thought again.

“Mom, dad, are you here too?” He lifted his head, “I told you guys I'd come back eventually. Who would have figured it would be a thousand years later, and with me not being human anymore? And hey, Elders? You guys were full of crap.” He sounded a bit annoyed, “I wanted so badly to come call you out, but well, by the time it was in my power it was more or less too late. But... well, is it even right for me to go by Jean anymore? My name is Ralochs now, Ralochs Dreemurr. I was adopted by a family of monsters, their royal family believe it or not, I'm basically a glorified librarian, but that's what I was training to be anyway, right?” He stood up and began to walk along the gravestones.

“I told myself I was done with humanity, I let the fact that I was shaken down by bandits, that the journey to Mt. Ebott was a suicide mission, and the truth of the war, the real truth, tint my vision of it. I forgot. I forgot I actually did have people I cared about up here, people I wanted to see again before they died. And truth be told, I haven't been a human for centuries. I just wanted to come here, to see you all again so that I can say goodbye to you all... So... no, not goodbye. It could be a long time, another thousand years or more, but, let's see each other again one day, okay?” He said with a hopeful smile as he turned to leave, heading back into the city.

“Now, where's that skeleton with my brother?” He questioned aloud as he walked back into the town.

As he wandered down the street he could hear a ruckus from a nearby bar, “No... Sans didn't actually...” He frowned and sprinted into the bar to see Asgore sitting at a table surrounded by frat bros, Sans was doing a kegger just across the way. Ral's eyebrow was twitching like a fiend, “Gonna kill him.” He said lowly.

“Oh! Howdy Ral, isn't this bar Sans found lovely? They even have a tea option!” Asgore said. Ral took a sharp sigh of relief at that.

“Riiiiight, er, should I rent us a motel room and leave you to this?” Ral said as he reached up to scratch the back of his neck, “As much as I want to torture Sans with being stuck drunk in the car for dragging you here, it might be for the best.”

“Well, if you wouldn't mind staying here another night, did you deal with what you wanted to?” He frowned a bit as he went back to the reason for their visit here.

“Yeah, I said my goodbyes. Don't uh... don't let Sans use any magic, I'm terrified of what he might try to do.” He said as he walked off with a wave.

Ral rented a nearby motel room and eventually went to go fetch his brother and friend. Sans had gone a bit too hard and had to be carried back to the motel room by Asgore, he was more or less completely knocked out.

“Ah, centers of higher learning.” Ral said in a jokingly derivative tone, “I can't believe this has turned into the kind of college town they make videos about.” He shook his head.

“Well, I think the atmosphere was rather pleasant. Loud, but pleasant.” Asgore responded.

“Every single one of those bro dudes reminded me of Aaron.” Ral quipped, eliciting a chuckle from Asgore.

After they reached the motel room and Asgore sat Sans down on the bed, he phoned Toriel and talked about the rather uneventful day. After hanging up, he walked out to see Ral sitting on the balcony staring at the stars. He knew the tells well enough to know something was bogging him down, “What's wrong?” He asked.

Ral smiled somberly as he kept gazing up, “I'm a monster, a being made of magic.” Ral responded, “And yet here I am, in the hometown of part of the SOUL that makes up the creature I am, whose human memories are all mine, it's so strange for me to just now be pining for what I let go a thousand years ago, feeling genuinely conflicted over the change. I guess being back here just brought back some memories that made me question if it was really the right thing to wish for.”

Asgore smiled and reached over to pat him on the back, “I don't think there's anything wrong with wondering about choices you've made, but just know there are people who are happy you chose what you did.” He said, smiling, “Human, Monster, you're still my brother. Though, I would be lying if I said I would be sad if you had stayed human.”

“Because I would have died?” Ral questioned. Asgore just nodded, “Fair enough, that's a pretty good thing to be thankful for, considering the lifespan differences. Actually, that might be it, why I'm so conflicted. Maybe a part of me actually wanted to die with my human friends and birth family instead of continuing to live with my new family and friends.” He smiled, “But you're right, I don't think I regret what happened, I'm glad I got to walk alongside you and all the friends I've made over the years. Glad I got to see the barrier shatter. Do you remember what I said? I wouldn't trade this for the world.”

“I do remember, and I'm so glad you still feel that way. Just remember though, if it ever gets to be too much, we're here for you.” Asgore said as he stood to head inside, it was clear that his own thoughts were running through his head, but he didn't vocalize them.

Ral nodded twice. His smile suddenly turned to a frown as he started to lose himself in his own thoughts, “For how much longer though?” He said sadly after Asgore was out of earshot, “You and Tori are aging again, sure Boss Monsters can live a long time even when they're actively aging but... you're going to go away one day aren't you?” He looked up at the stars, starting to cry, “Immortality sucks sometimes huh? Asriel is about the only one I can count on to stay with me through the coming centuries. Even Gaster, Sans and Papyrus will eventually leave, albeit it won't be for a very long time, skeletons live for-freaking-ever.”

He shook his head, “No... no, you've always known this was the case, Ral. I guess just... seeing my human family and friends again is making me feel my own lack of mortality in comparison to everyone else. But... I'm going to keep heading on anyway. Because, well, I'm not human, I'm a monster, I have a monster's lifespan, I have a monster's family. So... perhaps it really is time for goodbye.”

He took in a sharp breath before walking away back to the graveyard. Once there, he found a large boulder on the outskirts that wasn't technically part of the graveyard. Smiling at it, he began to narrate to the empty air as his claws began to glow with magical flames.

“A thousand years ago, a human stumbled into the underground in a moment of foolishness. A literal twist of fate saved him from certain death. Unable to leave, and with nowhere to go, he stumbled into the home of a race of beings who would have killed him because of the recent war and the tensions that still remained. Once there, he met an ancient lord of monsters who had passed down his crown. With a smile and a nod, the old monster gave him a robe and mask to live as one of them.”

“He lived hidden among them happily for six years, becoming a part of the royal family, adored by creatures who didn't even know his true nature. He wanted to write as much monster history as he could to make up for the history he failed to deliver here, the village he was born and raised in.

“And then one day... the human closed his eyes, and never woke up. Jean the Scholar, the human, had ceased to be. Knowing this place was his home, I came to lay his memory to rest, that his human spirit may finally sleep in this place he truly loved, even though he rarely said so.”

Ral stood away from the story he had melted into the rock with a smile, tears running down his face as he reflected on his story up until now. How he walked into the underground because he was too distracted reading a book. How he beat up against the barrier and screamed himself hoarse. He remembered the first time he walked down the stairway in Hotland, how he ran screaming from a Tem. How he even died a few times, but found the determination to refuse to have it end that way.

He remembers the tears he shed when Gorel passed away, and the sensation when he absorbed his SOUL. He remembers going to sleep on that day and waking up as something entirely new.

Slowly, he reached into his pocket and produced an old tattered journal. Almost all of the pages were illegible from the age, and it was a miracle it was still holding itself together. He slowly knelt down and placed it in front of the rock. When he closed his eyes, he could still see their faces, the human friends he had, the pride his mother and father felt in him, the way he waved to them before departing, never to return.

He stood, modest tears still coming down his face as he turned to leave, “Rest in Peace, Jean.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted Asgore to get drunk so badly, but I needed him to be sober and supportive. Also, the idea of Sans doing a kegger is so off-base, I love it.
> 
> One of my biggest gripes with Onlooker is that Ral just plain didn't care about leaving his humanity behind, mostly because, as I said, I'm VERY bad at fish-out-of-water scenarios and the pacing of someone adjusting to alien situations. This chapter really delved into what Ral feels when confronted about his humanity, and how his human life wasn't nearly as terrible as he made himself remember it being.
> 
> His dialogue came across as very ranty at times, that's kind of me writing me. Ral's really not a self-insert (He's way more competent than me, also a lot nicer and more patient), but when I get in bad moods I tend to argue with myself in a cyclic fashion no matter how many times I find the resolution, and he ends up doing that more than once over the course of this chapter to the point where some of his commentary doesn't make sense, but I feel like just adds to the dilemma he's going through.
> 
> So, I made an oops. I made two Oops at this point. I want this to be "Asgore and Ral", but Ral has the spotlight a lot more and that's because I completely forgot that I originally intended to have at least a full page set apart for Asgore's opinions and reflections on each of the children as well. I'm adding this here for myself as much as you guys to remind myself to make one massive chapter after the sixth kid that's done from Asgore's viewpoint on this whole journey.
> 
> Keep an eye on the filler arc stories, I'll be writing a short drabble about Frisk's nightmares mentioned at the start of this chapter.


	5. Purple: Who Wrote Their Way Through.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So first off, I wanted to apologize for the 20-something day break between updates, a mix of school, sickness, and general dismotivation robbed me of any desire to continue the story, I'll try to keep it to a schedule from here to the end, but no promises I won't go into another funk and disappear.

Another day, another trip to the bed of flowers. Toriel was still wearing the burden of the last one on her shoulders, still in disbelief that they unknowingly sheltered a killer. She took in a soft sigh as she arrived and started tending to the flowers, pruning any weeds that would strangle the life out of them. She closed her eyes, “It truly never gets any easier, does it, Chara? Each one that falls still leaves, still dies.” She took in a deep breath as she stood to leave.

She heard a rustling from above and looked up, pebbles from the surface were rolling down as if disturbed. Toriel tensed up as she saw the light from the surface disrupted by a shadow, and a screaming voice getting closer. She watched as the blur came into sight and quickly jumped to prevent the child from hitting the ground.

Toriel looked at the child in her arms, a blond little kid with glasses and a book in their hand. She quickly set them down to let them get their bearings, and because she wasn't sure what they would do. She had seen this twice before, their initial reaction was about the same; feared, panicked backing up to the wall while she stood there trying to soothe them that eventually led into them trusting her enough to approach.

She could still call the last child to mind and wanted to make sure what they were like before trusting them any further, so she chose to sit down and converse with them for a bit. They were quick to tell her about them, once the shock passed the child seemed almost excited to be talking to her, and would write every word down in that notebook they had.

They were curious and their appetite for knowledge seemed insatiable. They wanted to know nearly everything about monsters and Toriel was all too happy to oblige... for most of them. There were still some things she did not wish to tell them, like how, in her mind, every monster on the other side of the door to the ruins was out for blood. She did not wish to tell them about the others who had fallen, how they had all died.

Eventually though, that time came, the child asked about home, about how to leave. Toriel frowned and shook her head, “This is your home now, my child. I am sorry but...” The child asked again, Toriel winced, “Please, I know that you probably wish to go home but... the outside of the ruins are dangerous.”

Rather than continue arguing, the child opened their notebook to show Toriel their notes. Diligent scrawlings on their observance of the monsters of the ruins, how to pacify them to get them to leave the child alone. Toriel knew what they were doing, showing their perceptiveness to survive outside of the ruins by taking notes on how to get through without killing.

Toriel shook her head as she guided them to the exit, heart heavy. They had convinced her but there was still a part of her that knew if the child left, she would probably eventually hear news of their death. But what could she do? Restrain them? Fight them? She wasn't going to hurt the child, even if she believed it was for their own good.

She waved goodbye as the child vanished through the doors and returned to her once again empty home in silence. She needed to find a way to keep the children from wanting to leave if she was going to protect the next that fell. Every failure was a step closer to Asgore's plan being completed, she was starting to run out of chances.

__

* * *

 

“uuuugh, feels like my skull split in half.” Sans muttered as he woke up and rolled out of the bed, “man, is this what a hangover's like? why the heck would humans ever drink that crap?” He stood and walked over to the fridge to see a note on it from Ral.

“Sans, went to get breakfast, we'll bring you back something. PS; I read coffee is a good hangover cure... or is that the opposite and I forgot? Oh well, fifty-fifty.”

“gee, thanks.” Sans muttered.

The two of them eventually walked back in with some breakfast, “Hey there, Sans, how are you feeling.” Ral said, taking note of the skeleton's disposition.

“bleeeeeh.” Sans responded, planting his face on the table with a dull thud.

“Yep, sounds right.” Ral snickered.

“Here Sans, allow me to try something.” Asgore said as he walked over and put a hand on Sans' skull. A gentle glow came from it as he used some magic on the skeleton. After it was done, he removed his hand and looked him over, “How does that feel?”

“better. man that healing magic is strong.” Sans said as he lifted his head up and reached back to rub at it, back to his normal disposition.

“Heheh, well, I am still nowhere as proficient with healing magic as Tori is, but I know a thing or two about it.” Asgore said with a proud smile on his face, “Ral said we have a very long trip today, so we should go ahead and be going. We already loaded up and checked out, we were just waiting on you.”

“Yep.” Ral said, chiming in, “We should be leaving.”

“you seem in kind of a hurry to get out of this town, running from something?” Sans asked like he knew... something, it wasn't clear what.

“Not running, just... I've finished all the business I have here, I'm ready to get back on track.” He gave a bit of a forced smile at that as he headed to the car.

“The next child is in England, you said?” Asgore asked as they started driving down the highway again.

“Yeah, we're at the point where Ebott's reputation was so assured only tourists and... some less than savory motives would have seen children fall.” Ral said, pursing his lips.

“You really think that the rest of the parents might be like the last one's?” Asgore didn't seem very thrilled at the idea of the rest of the parents being like the callous millionaires that the last child came from.

“Well, I know that's half the case with at least one of them, I don't know what the other parents will be like.” He said, starting to drift into memories.

“so uh, what was kid four like?” Sans asked, cutting in.

Ral just kind of frowned as he was pulled back to the present, “Kid four, the one with purple SOUL. They're actually the only one I didn't interact with, I was still in shock because of what happened.” He shook his head, “They were, however, basis for the biggest fight me and Asgore ever had.” Asgore bowed his head a bit at that.

“how big are we talking?” Sans said, his eyesockets a bit wide at the thought of Asgore having a serious fight with anyone.

“The fight ended with me in a crater in the wall big.” Ral said as he took in a breath to start narrating.

* * *

 

_It was the shortest time between the children falling. Number four fell only a few months after number three was dealt with. I was still in shock over the loss of my arm, and was deeply depressed over the events that had transpired and the weight of the plan crushing me. I wouldn't eat, would barely get up, I think the only reason I even survived those months was because father would override my control and force me to take care of myself._

_I would put on a fake smile to watch Asgore and Undyne spar, but I never really had the same joy in pretty much anything. I didn't even know the fourth had fallen, the Royal Guards and new sentries had been keeping me respectfully distant from matters pertaining to the plan itself. It was during one such spar that the news reached us from the last person I expected._

“Heeeeey!” An elderly voice called out to the group. Undyne and Asgore stopped sparing and both of them, plus Ral who was sitting against the wall, turned their attention. It was Gerson, one of Asgore's friends.

_Gerson and Asgore were close even before monsters were sealed. According to father, it's actually almost instinctual that boss monsters are drawn towards monsters who are long-lived, so they don't have to replace as many friends over their potentially infinite lives. Same reason I became such fast friends with Gaster, and, much as you two fluster and sometimes terrify me, you and Papyrus, Sans._

“Oh! Gerson! Hello!” Asgore said with a smile as he walked up to greet his aged friend, “You're looking well.”

“Oh man, Mr. Gerson!” Undyne said as she ran up to him, “Have you come to hang out with Asgore? Can you spar with me?!” She started jumping up and down, looking thrilled at her own suggestion.

“Wa ha ha! Maybe later, squirt.” The turtle responded as he reached down and ruffled her hair, “Right now I got some business with Fluffybuns here. I uh... hate to cut your training short, but it's kind of adult business.” He added as he looked to Asgore, his eyes narrowing uncharacteristically.

“Business?” Asgore questioned. Ral glanced up to look at Gerson and caught a purple glow coming from the satchel on his side. His eyes widened in shock, he knew that glow.

“Aw! C'mon! I'm old enough to handle this conversation!” Undyne protested.

“Maybe in another few years, kiddo, right now I really need to speak to Asgore.” He repeated, more serious in tone.

“It's okay Undyne, I'll spar with you tomorrow to make up for it, is that okay?” Asgore said, looking to the girl with a smile.

Undyne crossed her arms and huffed, “Fine! I'll hold you to that!” She said as she stomped off, clearly unhappy with the situation.

“So... what did you want to talk to me about, Gerson?” Asgore said as he watched Undyne round the corner to head back to her home.

“Asgore, tell me something. Why the heck are you still doing this with those humans?” Gerson said. Asgore immediately frowned at that, “Asgore, one of those kids stumbled into my shop grievously injured, I couldn't save 'em.” Asgore and Ral's faces immediately twisted into an expression of sorrow at that.

“I... oh.” Asgore said, looking down at the ground, “I... see.” He looked up again.

Gerson was glaring at this point, “I'll ask again, why the heck are you doing this? I know you miss your kids, I know you ain't got over their deaths. But you know what's going to happen if we go free right? Godlike power or not, there's a good chance humans'll wipe us out. Did you forget what we told each other when we were first sealed? Breaking the barrier would be pointless.”

_Gerson was always one to be against us breaking out for the sake of killing humans, even a thousand years ago when a lot of monsters would have been all for it. I'm not sure if it was pragmatism or if it's because he was one of the few monsters to actively fight back during the war and survive. Either way, he took Asgore's declaration of war very personally._

“I...” Asgore trailed off, trying to find the words.

“And you're still hanging onto that despite what it's caused. You ain't got a queen anymore-” Asgore winced, “-you've got at least three innocent kids killed, can't speak for the last one-” Asgore's frown deepened, “-and I'm not about to forget when your brother showed up at my doorstep half-dead and missing an arm! Do you really think any of this would have happened if you just backed off sooner?”

“Gerson... I...” Asgore said, his head was lowered so much that his eyes were shadowed “It's not about me anymore, it's not about my feelings. It's about setting my people free, it's about giving everyone hope.”

“Hope, right.” Gerson responded sarcastically, “You're really willing to sacrifice everything you love for the sake of the people? Even the last family you have? When I was carrying him back, you know what he was saying? He was just saying your name and apologizin' over and over, begging ya to stop.”

Asgore was completely silent as Gerson sighed, “Maybe you'll come to your senses before it's too late, until then, goodbye, Fluffybuns.” He said as he reached into his pack to fetch the SOUL. He left it floating there as he turned and departed.

“I... no.” Asgore said weakly, bitterly, “I... have to do this.” He repeated his mantra, but it had no more assurance, no more enthusiasm. It had stopped working, he had stopped being able to feel justified in what he was doing, even the littlest bit.

Ral sat across the way. He had stayed silent the entire time Gerson was ripping into Asgore, unable to find the willpower to even jump to his brother's defense. Asgore eventually looked to him, “Ral... I'm so sorry.” He said lowly as he took the human's SOUL and went to the containment room just at the border of the barrier.

_Something about that apology... it was like a bubble popped in my head. In that instant my sorrow was replaced by a burning anger. The rational part of my brain turned off, I was going to get you out of it, no matter what._

Ral stood up, his steps guiding him as his SOUL lit up. “Ral, I can feel your emotions peaking, what are you about to do?” Gorel's voice echoed in the monster's head.

“What needs to be done.” Ral responded as he came up to Asgore. He had just situated the SOUL in the container and watched it retreat into the ground when he turned to see his brother, “Asgore...this is... I'm sorry, I don't want to leave you to this but... I can't watch you destroy yourself, even if it's for your people.” He said as he made sure his brother made eye contact, the smaller monster's eyes were burning with resolve.

Asgore looked to him with a grim countenance “Ral... you've lost so much because of this, you don't have to keep helping me.” He said sadly as he bowed his head in deep apology.

“Asgore, you need to stop.” Ral said bluntly.

Asgore's voice was full of emotion as he responded with two simple words, “I can't.”

“You still feel like you should because you're the king.” Ral muttered under his breath, “Asgore... if you won't stand down, then I challenge you for your crown!” He yelled as a fire lit up over his singular hand.

“Ral, please!” Asgore said with a frown, “You don't need to do this!” He threw his cape aside and summoned his trident. He wasn't going to strike family if it could be avoided, but it was clear he would need to defend himself.

“I do, brother. The burden of the crown is destroying you. If I take the title of King, then I can put a stop to this plan. I can stop seeing humans die, I can stop seeing our people killed trying to get us out. And most of all, I can stop seeing you come closer and closer to your own death because of this!” Ral summoned one massive fireball and threw it at the other boss monster, who sidestepped it expertly with deceptive speed for his large frame.

“I'm so sorry about everything, brother, but please!” Asgore pleaded, perhaps pointedly not refuting any of his points.

“Only a strong monster can rule, right? Well then, I'll just have to become strong!” Ral started throwing a firestorm at Asgore. Asgore kept swaying from side to side dodging the attacks, occasionally raising his trident to deflect would-be direct hits entirely.

“I want to stop this. I want this to come to end... but I can't, not until I assure our freedom.” Asgore said, tears starting to flow down his face, “Ral, please stop! You're not thinking straight! You're using too much magic in these attacks!”

“I don't care about that anymore!” Ral roared in response as he continued the onslaught.

Asgore refused to budge. Ral's fireballs were dodged and deflected like they were nothing but an annoyance to him. “Please! If you keep throwing out magic like this, you're going to kill yourself!”

Ral's next fireball went wide, “I know! But how else can I convince you to stop?!” Anger started to give way to regret as he began to realize he wasn't doing this out of anger, but out of remorse for his part in everything up until now.

“I don't want to lose you too! Please...” Asgore gripped his weapon tightly, getting ready to lash out.

“No... I'm not...” Ral said as he slowed down, the fireballs barely gaining enough momentum to cross the room.

“Ral... I'm sorry.” Asgore said lowly as he crossed the room in one mighty stride. He wound back as his weapon shapeshifted into a Halberd. He turned the blunt towards the smaller monster and swung once, sending him flying backwards and into the wall of the castle, hard enough to crater the stonework.

_Humans have a saying, “Kind to be Cruel”, the idea of doing something malicious for an ultimately benevolent reason, that's pretty much what that was. If I had kept going then I would have used up so much magic I would have burned out, possibly died. It hurt like crap and laid me out for a day, but you had stopped me from killing myself in a rage._

The next day came as Ral left his house and got in the elevator to the castle. He walked into the throne room to see Asgore was tending to his plants, probably to keep his mind off yesterday, “Just a moment please, let me finish watering these flowers.” He said as he finished up and turned around to see Ral standing there with a mute smile on his face, “Oh...”

“Hey...” Ral said sadly, “I did something pretty stupid, didn't I?” He chuckled twice before walking over, “I just kind of... snapped.”

“You don't have to apologize, I know how hard all of this has been on you. Everything you've seen and lost because of this, it's my fault.” Asgore said as he hugged his little brother.

Ral stood there, a sad smile on his face, “You're still not stopping, huh?” He sighed and looked him in the eyes, “I want to break you away from this but... I'm not going to lose you. But I'm also not going to let the last three go down without a fight.” He turned to walk out, beckoning him to follow.

“Why won't you stop though, despite everything?” He added. In that instant, he blinked and clutched his head in an incredible kind of pain that brought him to his knees. Asgore immediately ran up to check on him, “I'm... fine.” He said as he stood shakily.

“I... just can't.” Asgore said, like not even he had an answer at that point.

_The answer made itself known to me only just recently because of Gaster returning with perspective on how time works. I had tried to completely diverge what was destined to happen by trying to bring you out so heavily. Fate was tugging its strings to keep things back in order. If history hadn't already played out to a certain extent, if we hadn't been living in a reset of a timeline that had already happened, you WOULD have backed out. But, sadly, we were, so even though you didn't know why, even if you didn't want to, even if it didn't make logical sense at that point, you were still stuck on the linear track laid out for you._

“Brother.” Ral said, “I'm not leaving you alone in this, I'm going to stay here to support you, to let you know that you still have at least one family member left here for you.” Asgore smiled sadly at that, “But... If the next children to fall are kind or friendly, I'm going to help them. I'm going to guide them through the underground and protect them. I'm going to make you see the innocence in their eyes so you can stop this for good.”

Asgore didn't protest, he just nodded twice.

_Unfortunately, that wouldn't come to be. From then on, I resolved to protect the last three, and to stretch out the length of time. I replaced my forays outside of Ebott for culture in favor of chasing people off with fire magic to make them think Ebott was haunted. It worked better than I thought, between child number four and five, seven years passed. We were into the first decade to pass since Asriel's death before the next came._

* * *

 

Ral sighed as his narration finished, “What a mess.”

“yeah, a real royal mess.” Sans chimed in, getting a grunt from both of them, “seriously though, i've never seen asgore fight at his full power, and from what you're telling me he was still holding back and able to take you out in one hit.”

“But... wait.” Asgore said, “What did you mean, about the path being laid out for me?” He seemed confused, and a little concerned.

Ral took in a deep breath, “Oh man, where do I begin? Sans, you know how time works better than me, you want to take this one?” He glanced to the skeleton before looking back to the road.

“man, why'd you have to field that one to me?” He shook his head, “alright, but this is going to be reaaaaaally confusing, asgore.”

He inhaled as he started to speak, “so, we're all aware of time travel because of what frisk told us. technically, we're in our fourth timeline.” He raised a hand up, holding his fingers out, “the first timeline was when frisk first fell, the second timeline was the first time the barrier broke, the third was the timeline where that alien presence killed everything. right now, we're living in number four, where not only did the barrier break, but asriel came back to life, and ral exists where he previously didn't.”

Asgore nodded to show that he was following so far, though he already looked a little perplexed.

“okay, so with that in mind, look at time like a straight line. time travel like frisk's reset erases those lines up to point A, the start of their journey. after point A, things can be rewritten to an extent, those are when variables come in, things like frisk doing things they didn't before that cause different reactions, or where things can diverge entirely, like that presence killing us all. as long as point A doesn't change, anything between that and the theoretical point B, when a reset occurs, is possible.” Sans continued.

“Okay, so where does that put what Gaster told me?” Ral cut in.

“things are only supposed to be able to change after that point A, you see? everything before it, from asriel's death to asgore's declaration of war, it had already happened, so it would always happen.”

Asgore bowed his head at that, “So... I never really did have a choice.”

“not since the first time it happened, at least. it was ingrained so deeply in the flow of linear time that nothing could stop it... not even the addition of a walking paradox.” Sans gave Ral a pointed look, “when dad went back and helped with your creation, he did so with your endgame ending up as a variable in the weak timeline after frisk fell, so you could stop everything from ending. and sure you could deal with minor stuff, like stealing the actions from people, or dealing with those kids. but... stuff so important to the timeline, stuff that could make things diverge so heavily if they were upset? variations on how things happen were possible, like your fight and trying to turn asgore away, but the end result would always have to be the same.”

“So that's why Asgore wouldn't back down despite how much even he seemed to want to. If I had been here for the first timeline, my words could have actually made him stop... but since I came into existence in timeline three, I was ultimately only able to have minor influences on the world... that's also why I always failed to save those children.” Ral said as he closed his eyes slightly, keeping the bare minimum of attention on driving.

“I... I see...” Asgore didn't know what to make of it.

“of course, that's not to say free will is a joke or anything, you were just retreading ground someone else had already walked on. now that we're out of ebott and past the end of the latest frisk made it in their journey, time is beyond being scripted, anything can happen from here.”

“Gee, time travel is confusing.” Asgore said as he reached up to scratch at his head, “I'm honestly not sure how to feel about that.” He dipped his head as he reflected on the information.

“You sure do know a lot about this mess, Sans.” Ral said as he looked to the skeleton, who just shrugged in response.

“well, i did actually care about doing and learnin' stuff, once upon a time. learning how time flows was one of the first things i had to understand when i started trying to help dad.” Sans replied.

“I need a break from all this driving. And this headache I have now. I'm going to pull into the next rest stop, do you two have any objections to that?” Ral said as he looked to his companions. They both shook their heads.

After they had finished eating and calming down from their headaches, they got back to the road. “But it doesn't matter.” Ral said, breaking the silence, “Like Sans said, we're treading new ground now, so we shouldn't let it bother us.”

Asgore nodded, “I agree.” He didn't sound certain of his own words as he spoke. Ral had dealt with the existential nightmare of his existence as a paradox in events that had already played out, but for Asgore, that sensation was new to him. It was clear he wasn't sure how to handle what Sans had told him, the idea that he only had to make that mistake one singular time to create an endless, unchangeable 'always' of events that led to the deaths of the children.

The next few hours of the drive were pretty quiet, none of the three were feeling very talkative. Eventually they reached the channel tunnel that would take them across the channel to England, where the next child was waiting. They boarded the train and were carried off to the next part of their journey.

They looked out of the train as they were being carried overseas, taking in what all they could see, which wasn't much.

“So, I actually have a question for you, Ral.” Asgore said, finally breaking the tense silence that had followed.

“Oh, yes?” Ral said, glad to finally have a new topic conversation.

“Why did you change clothes again? You said something about religious demons?” Asgore tilted his head, trying to figure out what his brother meant.

“Ah... human ideology has something of a designated bad guy, apparently our species looks like him?” Ral shrugged.

“oh, and what's that like?” Sans said, looking at Ral with an almost knowing grin.

“Looks like a goat, wields a trident, lord of an underground society of-” Ral cut himself off mid-sentence as he turned to look at Asgore, who just gave a hum of confusion in response, “Wow.” He said at a loss for words.

“now that's what i call demonizing.” Sans started laughing at his own joke.

“I don't understand.” Asgore said, trying to get the joke that Sans had worked out and Ral wasn't finding very funny.

“D-don't worry about, this conversation never happened.” Ral said as he went back to staring out the window, trying to ignore the white, fuzzy elephant in the room.

As the train arrived and they got off, they were immediately floored and charmed by London's sights. “so... we sightseein' or...?” Sans said as they looked around at the sights.

“Well, myself and Asgore are probably going to find the parents tonight, we can play tourist tomorrow. To be honest, we'll actually have a few days off after this.” Ral responded as they walked down the streets, spotting mostly humans, but to their joy, a few monsters also walking down the streets like any other person.

“days off?” Sans asked.

“Well, after this one, the last two are overseas. I kind of spaced this trip out counting on the fact that it would be emotionally stressful, so I booked us a cruise instead of a plane ride.” Ral said as he reached up to scratch at his head.

“Oh? I've never actually been on a cruise, I'm sure it will be lovely.” Asgore said with a sigh, “And, yes, needed.” His smile lowered itself a bit on that. Stress would have been putting it lightly.

As they kept walking down the city streets and taking in the sights, they eventually came upon a row of apartments. Ral took in a deep breath as Asgore looked over at him, “This is it?” Ral just nodded twice as he started walking up the stairs to the apartment the parents presumably lived in.

“welp, time for me to head off then, talk to you guys later.” Sans said with an almost dismissive wave as he walked off, leaving the two to their business.

Two raps on the door and it opened just slightly, a woman's voice came from the crack in the door, “Hello, can I help you?”

“Uhm, yes, well, let me make sure I have the right residence... are you the parent of a child who went missing around the area of Mount Ebott a few decades ago?” Ral said, already sounding uncomfortable with himself.

The door immediately opened wide to reveal a younger blonde woman. She was far too young to have been a parent back then, “You two know what happened to my brother?”

Asgore frowned, “Your brother? I see... well, I... are your parents home?” He asked. Immediately, the woman's expression fell and she silently gestured for them to come inside.

“Gone?” Ral said as the woman told her about the parents, “What do you mean gone?” He added, fearing the worst.

The woman shook her head sadly, “Mom and Dad both passed away a few years ago from different illnesses.”

“I...I see.” Asgore said, bowing his head, “My condolences.” He wasn't doing a good job of hiding his emotional guilt that the parents probably passed away never knowing what happened to their younger child. All that could be done now was informing the one member of the family who was still alive.

“So... what happened to my brother?” She said, looking between the two monsters, “I mean... I can guess by your expressions, but still.”

Ral reached into his phone's box and pulled out the child's notebook, most of its pages long since torn out, and cracked, clouded up glasses, “Your brother was... The underground wasn't a safe place for people to be, there were a lot of dangerous hazards. He wasn't even the only one who was lost.” Again he was lying about the fact it was most likely a monster who caused his death. The only real saving grace was that he wasn't even entirely sure, Gerson never told him the definite of what took his life.

The woman took the items and looked them over, “Wow... he...” She started crying a bit, though she wasn't nearly as torn up. “I moved on from losing him a long time ago, but it still hurts to know he...” She sighed.

“What happened to him? Why would he go to a mountain that it was common knowledge was cursed?” Ral was prying into their family history, trying to figure out why the child would have fallen down.

“It was supposed to be a family vacation.” She said, “My brother was pretty young, but he loved reading the stories about monsters and the legends surrounding them. He said he would have loved to meet one some day.” Ral and Asgore both sank into their shoulders at that, that was the last thing they would have ever wanted to hear.

“We convinced our parents to go to Mt. Ebott for a vacation and we lost track of my brother on a nature hike... we never found him even though we nearly turned the mountain upside-down.” She closed her eyes, gripping on the broken glasses.

“That's... I see.” Ral said with a frown, “He just wanted to know about what we were like, the type of people we were.” He reached up to hug himself, clearly distressed. The truth of the matter was that before he handed the book to Gerson for safekeeping in his store and age damaged it, he had made sure to read it. Each page was a detailed list of one of the monsters the child probably encountered, how to get them to settle down, how to avoid their attacks... how to befriend them. He clearly didn't expect it to be a journey that would end his life.

“I am so sorry.” Asgore said as he bowed his head, “If I had made a different decision, perhaps he would still be alive. If you hold any anger, any hatred, then it belongs to me.”

“I'm glad to know what happened to him, but I've moved on.” The woman said, “I'm just glad that, well, at least he got to meet the monsters and fulfill his dream. I've heard about you guys over the news, seen a few of you around the city, you're all decent folk, I'm sure he was happy.” She had no way of knowing, but her words stung both of them worse than they could ever describe and just made the guilt pile up more.

They spent a few hours talking about the child before saying their farewells and walking down the road. Their trip had started early enough in the day, but between all the travel they had done it had grown late.

As they walked down, Sans stepped out of a shortcut, “so, how'd it go?” He asked as he started walking beside them.

“I feel like the scum of the earth.” Ral said to himself.

Asgore nodded in agreement, “He wanted to befriend us, he probably did befriend a few monsters... but...” He shook his head, “This one just made my guilt worse.”

The three of them walked in silence to the motel Sans had apparently taken care of while they were gone. After they got into the room Ral spoke up, “So, hey, question.” The other two looked to him, “Why was it always only kids? You heard her, she and her parents searched every inch of the mountain, how would they not have found either the entrance to the barrier or the hole above the ruins?”

“That... is an excellent question.” Asgore responded, “There was a lot about the barrier that always remained a mystery to us, we never really thought to ask why it was only children. Perhaps the magic was weak around the young?”

“Maybe? I'm not sure, I was a teenager when I found Ebott so I'm not sure if that applies.” Ral said, putting his hand to his chin in thought, “Any ideas there, Sans?” He added, looking to the skeleton.

Sans just shrugged and turned towards a direction that, to them, was simply facing the wall, “dunno, maybe the person writing the story just can't figure an out for the plot thread he just introduced.” Ral and Asgore both tilted their heads at that, “...it was a joke, don't worry about it.”

“Riiiiight.” Ral respond, “Well, a lot of questions have answered themselves over the past years, maybe we'll eventually figure out that one too.” He said with a dismissive shrug as he went to lay down.

Asgore stepped outside and called home as was usual.

“How was it?” Toriel said after she picked up.

Asgore frowned, “I feel awful, dear. The child sought us out intentionally because they wanted to be friends with us... and we... I.” He stumbled over his words, unsure of what to say.

“Asgore... I know you are still feeling all of the guilt of that decision, it is not getting easier, is it? I suppose that makes sense... but it was in the past, and you are making it as right as you possibly can. So please, stay strong, and do not forget you have children waiting for you to come back.” Toriel responded.

Asgore just gave a weary smile as he spoke, “Thank you.” He said weakly before continuing to talk about their respective days.

Inside, Sans looked over at the monster laying on the bed, “so, time for a break huh? just two kids left right?”

Ral nodded, “We'll cross the ocean on a cruise liner and then we have the green and the yellow one.” He frowned at the recollection of the green soul, “Alex... your parents are the next up, do I really have the strength to tell them what happened?”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, going over this chapter
> 
> I felt really bad that I treated the purple SOUL as more of a plot device than a character, but this story being mostly told from Ral's perspective and him being on the outs didn't give me a chance to really develop him in the flashback.
> 
> The fight between Asgore and Ralochs was another of the big "turning points" in his character history and development, so I wanted to take extra care to make sure that I did it justice, I think I did good enough.
> 
> Okay, so the timeline thing stemmed from me looking at the whole of this series and how things happened and telling myself, "Wait, why would Asgore for any logical reason keep going when Ral's killing himself trying to get him to stop?" The idea of the pre-game story, being set because of timeline one was kind of a risky move for the narrative, and hopefully Sans' explanation wasn't too confusing, I had to rewrite it four times and I'm still not sure about how clear it is.
> 
> It was a late idea to have the parents of at least one of the kids have passed since they fell, I mentioned in part two it's both my strength and weakness that I keep my stories formulaic, so I do my best to subvert expectations while still keeping things close to that way.
> 
> That was mean Sans, don't call me out like that, you're not in the game anymore.


End file.
